Kingdom Hearts, Grimoire of Fate I: Death's Game
by Astral Miracle
Summary: Sora and Kairi investigate a new world at the King's request. Unseen turmoil in this strange world leaves Sora fighting for his life, literally, in the game of death. His inner nature only jeopardizes his chance of escape.
1. Prologue: The Journey Continues

**A/N: **Hello readers. This story, Kingdom Hearts Grimoire of Fate I: Death's Game, has been completed and uploaded in full. Excess author notes have now been removed. This is my first attempt at a writing project like this. Comments are greatly appreciated.

This story occurs after the end of the video game, Kingdom Hearts II, when Sora, Riku, and Kairi return at last to the Destiny Islands. However, this story has no relation to the teaser even at the end of Kingdom Hearts II. In other words, there is no relation between the events of this story and the letter sent to Sora, Riku, and Kairi by the King of Disney Castle.

Disclaimer: The characters and settings featured in this story do not belong to the author. They belong to Square-Enix, Disney, Jupiter, and other corporations. Any resemblance between story elements and real people or locations is strictly coincidental. This work contains plotline spoilers for Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts II, as well as for any other games that are featured in this story.

* * *

**Prologue: The Journey Continues**

_One month. Thirty days. It seemed like only yesterday._

"_Heroes from the realm of light… I will not allowed it to end this way. Not yet. If light and darkness are eternal, then surely, we nothings must be the same… eternal," the nobody pronounced. He glared at him and the silver-haired keyblade master beside him, filling their hearts with despair._

_Riku lowered his blade, and matched the Nobody's petrifying glare. "You're right. Light and Darkness ARE eternal. Nothing probably goes on forever too." He lifted the Way to Dawn once more. "But guess what, Xenmas?"_

"_That doesn't mean YOU'RE eternal!" Sora finished, drawing the Oathkeeper Keyblade._

_Xenmas began to laugh. Quietly at first, then louder, as he drew his glowing red sabers. "No more eternal than that radiance of yours…" he said grimly._

* * * * * * * * * *

"Sora!"

The sixteen year-old, startled by the rude awakening, was sitting upright in a second. "Sora! You can't sleep at the steering wheel!" a squeaky voice protested.

"I'm awake, Dale," the teenager said groggily. The two chipmunks on the dashboard looked at each other for a moment.

"WAKE UP!" they screamed together. Unfortunately, small as they were, they could be quite loud when they needed to be.

"Oh c'mon you guys." Chip and Dale, the engineers aboard the _Highwind_, were as great as engineer's come. As co-pilots, they were only slightly better than the Disney Castle Court Magician, Donald. He yawned. "I've been flying this Gummi ship for over 2 years now, I think I know how to fly by now…"

At first, he was reluctant when the King of Disney Castle asked his assistance once more. King Mickey himself was a keyblade wielder, as well. He was the chosen one of the Realm of Darkness, in direct contrast to Sora, the chosen one of the Realm of Light. But it didn't really matter where the powers came from. Riku, his best friend, bore a keyblade as well, but he drew his strength from both the light and the dark.

It didn't really matter, after all. They were all on the same side, regardless.

* * * * * * * * * *

_It was a sunny, warm afternoon in the Disney Castle when the trio arrived from the Islands. King Mickey had sent word, requesting help. Riku led the way through the familiar castle. The silver-haired keyblade master had just turned 17 years of age, within a week of Sora turning 16._

_Sora privately thought it was always sunny and warm in the Disney Castle. Even Riku couldn't hide the light that came to his eyes when they visited._

_They entered the courtyard from the engineering bay, where Gummi ships, completed and not, rested. They had spent a good 5 minutes admiring a new, sleek, silver Gummi ship, armed with the best shields and weapons available. Along the side of the ship was emblazoned, "The Dawn Chaser."_

_"200 munny says Mickey built it just for me," Riku joked. _

"_You're on!" Sora shouted. "His majesty knows we already have a Gummi ship!"_

"_Yea well, maybe he thought I needed one of my own," Riku answered with a smirk._

"_Kairi, here," said Sora, passing over a nice sum of munny. "You too, Riku."_

_Kairi merely sighed as Riku laughed and passed his wager to Kairi as well. "Maybe Mickey's heard about you hogging the Gummi ship," taunted Riku._

"_It's my ship!" cried Sora indignantly._

"_Hence why I need my own," said Riku with a smile._

"_Oh come on, why do you need to go to Radiant Garden so often anyways?"_

"_Did you forget already? They don't sell sea-salt ice cream on the Islands. I even brought you guys some."_

_At this point, Kairi rolled her eyes. "Riku, you brought us a container of salt water."_

"_Yea well… the freezer was broken," said Riku._

_Kairi hadn't seen the beautiful courtyard of Disney Castle before.. Riku walked quickly through the courtyard, knowing that he would be entranced in the matter of minutes if he stopped for a look. Kairi didn't call Sora a lazy bum for no reason though. The King wouldn't be too upset if they spent an extra couple minutes in the garden, right? He led Kairi around the courtyard instead, where the two spent nearly ten minutes simply admiring the beautiful hedge sculptures. The lush green leaves were trimmed precisely, the art seeming to have a life of its own._

_And in the shade of one of the sculptures lay the heroic Captain of the Royal Knights, Goofy Goof, sleeping soundly. Sora would've waken him, if not for Kairi's timely intervention._

_Of course, Riku's patience had its limits too. And the ten minutes his friends spent loitering in the garden was nine minutes too long. "Riku! That's not fair!" Kairi protested, trying not to laugh, as Riku dragged Sora ahead._

_"Sorry Kai, you can take a closer look later," he said, apologetically. They proceeded down a long corridor, passing great doors over fifteen times their height._

_"Wow," said Kairi breathlessly. "What's behind there? And how do you open it?"_

_"Would you like to see?" asked Sora, with a smirk. Riku gave him a warning glance. "C'mon Riku, it won't take long." With his trademarked goofy grin, Sora stepped forward and rapped sharply at the base of the massive door. A smaller, hidden door swung open._

_Kairi's stunned expression was all that was needed for Riku and Sora to burst out laughing. A moment later, she turned on the pair. Sora, of course, became quiet at once, even frowning slightly. Of course, Kairi's threatening glare, and Sora's cowed expression, only lead to more laughter from Riku. Kairi caved, and began laughing as well._

_"Donald!" Sora called, as their friend came racing down the hall, investigating the sudden noise._

_"Sora!" squawked Donald Duck, Royal Magician of the Disney Court. "Kairi! Riku!" The four friends shared a quick group hug. "Goofy is cleaning his shield, we're setting off soon!" Sora and Kairi exchanged a glance, and burst out laughing once more. Donald looked at Riku quizzically._

_"This place can really do that to you," he said, with a smile._

_The three of them proceeded to the library, where King Mickey was, while Donald "prepared" for the trip. Sora grinned, recalling that Donald's preparations usually involved food and buying treasure maps, most of which turned out to be fake._

_"Riku! Sora! Kairi!" he greeted his friends. Out of habit, both Sora and Kairi sank to their knees._

_"Your Majesty," the two said simultaneously. Of course, old friend as he was, Riku was far less formal._

_"Hey Mickey," the seventeen year-old said brightly. "How've you been?"_

_"Oh, you two don't have to call me that! Just Mickey is fine!" the diminutive king said to the kneeling pair brightly. Then, his face fell. "I'm sorry fellas, but I really need a favor."_

_"Name it!" Riku and Sora exclaimed together. Kairi gave the two boys a suspicious glance, which, escaped Riku unnoticed. Predictably, Sora cringed, and settled back almost immediately._

_"Well, there's two things really. The first is, we found a new world."_

_"So you want us to go search for and lock any keyholes? No problem!" said Sora, getting to his feet._

_"It's not as easy as that, fellas. You see, the pilots who found it said something strange happened once they got close to it. They're not really sure what, but none of them know how to handle a new, strange world firsthand," explained Mickey. "Also, I heard something strange happened in the Radiant Garden a few days ago. They asked for help, it seems their having problems with one of their books."_

_"Books? The Hundred Acre Woods?" gasped Sora. He sighed in relief as Mickey shook his head._

_"No, it sounds like a new book, or rather, old book they just found," Mickey clarified. "I'd send Donald and Goofy, but the two of them have their own mission to attend to soon. I'm really sorry to bother you two…"_

_"I'm sorry, your Majesty, but Sora and Riku really need to-"_

_"We'll do it!" shouted the boys together. "Dibs on Radiant Garden," said Riku right away._

_"School starts the day after tomorrow!" Kairi protested. "You two promised you wouldn't make me go alone again!"_

_The king chuckled. "If you two have school to attend, then it can wait, really. We all know you two deserve a break."_

_"Don't worry about it Mickey," said Riku, grinning. "We'll finish checking everything out long before school starts up. Besides, we're not missing much," he finished._

_Sora nodded his assent. "We can help… but wait, why does Riku get to pick first?"_

_"Because you've done your share of book diving, now it's my turn," Riku shot back._

_"Oh alright, I'll check out the new world after dropping Kai-"_

_"No!" The pair turned to see a very, very angry Kairi. "You are not leaving me alone again!" she said angrily._

_"But Kairi," Sora began._

_"No! Not again, Sora!" Kairi cut him off._

_"Kai-"_

_"We're not leaving you alone again," Riku finished for Sora. Sora nodded, then realized what Riku had just said. He turned towards Riku. _

"_We aren't?"_

"_Course not. Kairi's going with you, right?" Riku said, with an evil grin._

"_I-uh… what?" stuttered Sora, confused._

"_Kairi's been to Radiant Garden enough times, I bet she'd love to visit a new world." Check and mate._

_Or not. "That's not safe!" protested Sora. "What if there's heartless?" He turned towards Kairi, then gulped. Kairi looked livid._

_"Sora, I can take care of myself just fine!" she stormed._

_King Mickey, who had been silent for a long time, finally sought to speak. "Kairi, this is a new world we're talking about, it might be more dangerous than anything Sora has seen before. This really isn't a good idea."_

_Kairi grimaced. Then she smiled suddenly. "C'mon Sora," she said, grabbing him by the hand and leading him back to the courtyard._

_"Wait Kairi… what are we doing?" stammered Sora._

_"You'll see," said Kairi, in that dangerously sweet voice of hers. Riku and Mickey followed closely behind, Riku smiling, knowing exactly what Kairi had in mind. He was hardly surprised when she asked to borrow the Way to Dawn once more. He threw the keyblade to her, which she caught deftly in one hand. She tied her own keychain on, one shaped like the Paopu fruit native to the Islands. The blade instantly changed, growing distinctly flowery in design, with a myriad of colors. "Ready Sora?"_

_Sora hesitated in drawing his own keyblade. First of all, having spent plenty of time admiring the beautiful garden, accidentally slashing it to bits hardly appealed to him. Second, Tidus, Wakka, Selphy, and even Riku had all suffered a fair share of bruises in their mock fights. So had he._

_Kairi didn't give him a choice. She jumped forward, swinging the blade recklessly from left to right. Oblivion, Sora's keyblade since he had returned Kairi's good luck charm, appeared, and Sora neatly parried the attack. Kairi stepped back, anticipating a counter attack. When one didn't come, she lunged forward again. Sora foiled this blow with a simply downwards strike, pushing her blade harmlessly low. She twirled around, bringing the blade straight down towards Sora's neck._

_Riku groaned. They had been secretly practicing thrice a week on the beach. The score was twenty seven to zero in his favor, with sixteen of his wins attributed to that blatantly obvious move. How many times had he admonished her for leaving herself wide open like that?_

_But Sora continued to fight conservatively. He shifted his blade, blocking yet another blow. He launched a half -hearted swipe towards her arm, which Kairi dodged neatly, before she leapt forward, swinging her own blade horizontally. This time, Sora didn't block quite in time, and the blade caught him neatly on the arm._

_"I win!" she shouted cheerfully. "I beat Sora! If I can't go because it's too dangerous, Sora's not going either, so there!" she said, sticking her tongue out at him._

_"You're really slipping, Sora," said Riku, with a grin. He had let her win, of course. From their old sparring matches on the Islands, they were neck to neck, forty three to forty three. Since then, they had fought at least thrice, Sora emerging victorious all three times._

_"Well I'm not staying behind!" said Sora. _

_Mickey looked uneasy, but Kairi said boldly, "Then it's settled! We'll be back in a couple days!" she said brightly._

"_Gawrsh, what's that racket?" came a voice from beneath a hedge sculpture, as the Captain of the Royal Knights was finally roused from his slumber._

"_Goofy!?" shouted Donald, as he strode into the garden. "What have you been doing you great big palooka!?"_

"_Well, fellas, you best be off then," said Mickey, still looking at Sora worriedly. "Are you sure everything will be alright?"_

"_C'mon your Majesty, I'll be there," said Sora, winking reassuringly._

"_Sora, mind dropping me off at the Radiant Garden before you leave?" asked Riku. "Oh, and picking me up before heading back to the Islands, of course."_

"_Actually, that won't be necessary, Riku," said the King. "I was told someone needed a new Gummi ship for himself."_

_Sora's expression indicated clearly he had long since forgotten the bet. "You built him his own Gummi ship?" he asked the King blankly, as Kairi pitched the bags of munny to Riku._

"_Yes, Sora, and I had Chip 'n' Dale upgrade yours too. It should be ready soon."_

"_Awesome! Thanks, your Majesty!" Sora said brightly. "Off we go then!" he cheered, racing back to the engineering bay, already putting the 200 munny behind him.  
_

* * * * * * * * * *

"_You let her win, didn't you?"_

"What?" asked Sora absentmindedly.

"_Back in the courtyard?"_

"Yea," said Sora dreamily. He turned and saw Kairi, leaning back, and sleeping in the comfortable co-pilot's chair that had once belonged to Donald.

"_Cute, isn't she."_

Without thinking, Sora began to nod. Then he froze.

"_Gotcha, Sora!"_

Sora grimaced. "Roxas!" he complained aloud. "Shut it!" Fortunately, Chip and Dale, obsessed with their own card game now that the ship's Captain was awake, didn't notice. A feminine giggle in his mind told him someone else did.

"Not you too, Naminé," Sora groaned.

"_Kairi's asleep! Where else can I hang out?"_

Sora sighed. During the first part of their adventure, Kairi's heart fled her body, hiding itself within Sora's. When Sora realized, he used a dark keyblade, one with the power to unlock people's hearts, to free Kairi's heart. The process turned Sora into a heartless, creating a nobody, a shell with memories, but no heart. However, through an as-of-yet unexplained miracle, Kairi was able to restore Sora.

Not only was Sora restored, but his nobody, Roxas, was impacted as well, losing his memories. Similarly, the process also created a nobody of Kairi. Roxas, and Naminé, Kairi's nobody, were reunited with Sora and Kairi shortly before the final battle with Xenmas, where they became truly whole once more.

Of course, that meant Roxas was living within him, a separate consciousness. Theoretically, it wasn't a big deal. Roxas was him after all. But he had never imagined picking on himself, especially this frequently!

And of course, when Naminé dropped in to visit somehow, it could get far, far worse.

He reached into his pocket, lifting from it a small charm. It resembled the thalassa shell charm lent to him by Kairi back in Traverse Town. He had, of course, returned the charm, once he made it back to Destiny Islands. This charm was smaller, though. And it wasn't crafted from thalassa shells. A gifted moogle artisan crafted the beautiful sigil from a piece of valuable Orichalum that they had left over.

Dreams circled the simple charm, of the past and present, but mostly of the future. Someday, he would find a true use for it. But until then, he was content in holding it, and soaking in the memories.

Someday.


	2. Chapter 1: Undiscovered Horizons

**Chapter 1: Undiscovered Horizons**

Suddenly, the _Highwind_ began to shake. A handful of playing cards were scattered, and a small black keychain flew from Sora's pocket, rolling under the dashboard. Sora bent down to retrieve it, as the _Highwind_ shook again, his head banging into the table.

"What's going on!?" Chip squeaked.

"Hold on tight!" shouted Dale, grabbing Chip tightly. With the next rocking, the two chipmunks soared across the room together.

Sora stashed the keychain, and turned to see Kairi stirring slightly.

_"Was nice talking to you, Roxas."_

Sora shook his head, as he felt Naminé return to Kairi. He reached for the ship's communication terminal, and triggered it. "Hello, this is Captain Sora speaking. A few pieces of the ship are falling off right now. Don't worry, it's not a big deal, the worse that can happen is the _Highwind_ may explode. A little bit."

"Explode!?" said Kairi suddenly, startled. Behind her, the two engineers began to panic, while rolling along the ground.

"Just kidding Kai, everything's okay," Sora said with a goofy smile.

"That's not funny!" complained Kairi.

Suddenly, the world outside the windshield began to distort. Everything slowly twisted and warped into shades of black and white. The monochromatic view swirled, shook, and shimmered as the ship continued to fly.

"Sora… what's happening?" asked Kairi, beginning to worry.

Sora looked out the windshield, confused. "You know Kai, I honestly have no idea."

"Turn back! Turn back!" the two chipmunks squeaked.

"No way! Mickey's counting on us, remember!?" argued Sora. "Besides, it's just a bit of… really shiny light."

Kairi narrowed her eyes at Sora. "Riku taught me a bit of magic too, you know. Like how to set your hair on fire."

"Ah-hah! So it was Riku! He taught you how to fight!"

_"Didn't you already admit to throwing the match?"_

Sora grinned and assured his Nobody that Kairi didn't need to know the truth.

_"Who are you kidding?"_

At that moment, the _Highwind_ shook once more, and the world outside began to clear, and saw the world below them. A small world floated below the _Highwind_, covered in towering skyscrapers that reminded Sora eerily of those found in The World That Never Was.

As they drew closer though, Sora noted one major difference. This world was crawling with life. Even as they approached the world, he could feel the sense of life, conflict, excitement, and dread, all at once. He glanced at Kairi, who seemed to have felt the sudden tide of emotions too.

"Ready, Kai?" he asked quietly. She turned towards him and smiled.

_"She knows you threw the match, by the way…"_

"Naminé!" he cried angrily. "Out!" He felt Naminé giggling cheerfully as she obliged. Roxas laughing didn't make him feel better, either.

* * * * * * * * * *

Chip and Dale located a Gummi beacon quickly, where Sora and Kairi disembarked. Sora had his keychain ready, while Kairi had borrowed one of Donald's countless staves before leaving the Disney Castle. Each carried a handful of hi-potions, ethers, and elixirs as well, and Sora brought 5,000 of his seemingly endless munny stockpile. Beating up heartless all day had a tendency to make one rich, although no one knows why heartless really have munny anyways.

At first glance, the area they stood in resembled the shopping center of the Radiant Garden. The store was made of gray stone, with a wide pathway made of a darker stone. Besides them was a statute of a dog. Dozens of people milled around the small area, visiting the nearby fast food store, shopping at the small jewelry and accessories store, or just talking with their friends.

"Which way, Sora?" asked Kairi.

Sora looked from left to right. "Doesn't matter, does it? Let's go that way," he said, leading Kairi down the street. They arrived in a great crossroad. Over a hundred feet above their heads was a great video screen, set against the building. It showed a variety of popular clothing and accessories.

_"Oh no."_

Sora silently agreed with Roxas. He distinctly remembered a conversation with Riku. Something about never going shopping with a girl, unless he was ready to be very, very bored. He was sure Roxas remembered the conversation as well. He smiled. At least, if it was as bad as Riku said it was, Roxas would have to suffer it with him.

_"I heard that."_

Of course he did. Sora smiled again. Then he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned and saw Kairi, who was indicating the large board excitedly. The smile faded into a look of horror. He couldn't hear her over all the commotion in the crossroad, but her meaning was clear enough. Even more so when she grabbed his hand tightly and led him towards a large department store.

The department store was far larger than anything they had ever seen in the Radiant Garden. Dozens of stores were packed, side by side, selling varieties of clothes, hats, and every sort of accessory you could think of. It was packed as well, noisier than the road outside, however impossible it may seem.

_"Hey, let's check out that one over there."_

"Roxas?" Sora muttered. "Are you okay? That's a store selling girl's clothes."

_"Yes, I'm fine, just let me take a look!"_

"I can't believe this," Sora groaned, as he entered the store, giving his nobody in his head a tour. "Why do you need girl's clothes anyways?" he whined.

_"Naminé's birthday is coming up in less than a month, remember?"_

"Really?"

_"How could you forget Kairi's birthday, Sora!?"_

"Oh, you guys just take our birthdays?"

_"Of course. You forgot to get me a present, by the way."_

"Right, I'll buy myself an extra present next time," he said sarcastically, storming out of the store, ignoring the strange looks.

_"The thought's appreciated."_

It was several hours before Kairi (and Naminé) were finally satisfied. Sora's attempts to persuade Kairi to minimize the purchases were mostly unsuccessful, and he left, carrying a pair of large shopping bags, his wallet a thousand munny lighter.

There was a restaurant down the street, but it was so crowded they couldn't even make out the name. A polite boy, stood in front, greeting guests. Instead, they stopped for lunch at a small store selling noodles, or, as the vendor called it, ramen. As they stepped out, Kairi pointed out a handful of strange objects.

"Are those heartless?" she asked Sora nervously, as a few boxlike objects on wheels rolled by.

"Nah, they look like vehicles to me," said Sora. "See? You can see people inside of them."

Suddenly, Sora's eyes narrowed. He jumped to the side, grabbing Kairi's hand and pulling her away, and down to the ground. "Sora!" she protested as she broke her fall with her arms. Even as she spoke his name, one of the boxed vehicles zoomed past, thrice as fast as any vehicle thus far. The person inside obviously didn't have control of it anymore, as it swerved wildly from side to side, passing right over the spot where Kairi stood merely moments ago.

"Sorry Kai," Sora said to his still-stunned companion. He summoned a bit of curative magic, and the scratches on her arm disappeared. He looked at her tentatively, expecting a harsh scolding.

Kairi merely shook her head. "Thanks Sora," she said quietly. He helped her back to her feet, and they continued down road, being careful to stay near the edge, far from the unknown vehicles.

They passed another department store, though thankfully, this visit was short. Within only minutes, Kairi came out muttering angrily about absurd prices (645,000 munny for a watch!?).

They followed the path all the way down, even through a simple park. Although really, it wasn't much of a park, compared to the Radiant Garden, or the Destiny Islands. It had a cold, artificial feel, an aura further exaggerated by the lack of natural life in the region. The edge of town was disappointing, at best. There was a small coffee shop, with a large CLOSED sign hanging over the door, and no indication of when the store was ever actually open.

"Were all the other worlds like this?" asked Kairi. "This place seems kind of… strange."

Sora shook his head. "There's no heartless here at all."

The two sat down on a bench at the park. "So what do you normally do, Sora?" asked Kairi. She seemed annoyed, at least, that the trip wasn't too exciting. She had to admit though, the first department store was nice. She smiled at the thought. It was great to have a friend to shop with, even if it was really was just her nobody.

"Well," Sora began to explain. "Most of the time, once we land, things kind of just… happen. Like in Agrabah, we met Aladdin almost once we landed. In Port Royal, we landed right in the middle of a pirate raid. But here… it doesn't look like anything special is happening," he finished glumly. "Sorry Kairi, I thought it would be more interesting."

"Sorry?" Kairi asked, confused. "It's not your fault, Sora. Besides, we still had a great day."

Sora nodded, then smiled. "Alright then. Why don't we check out the backstreets we just passed? Maybe we'll find something there. If not, we can head back to the _Highwind_."

* * * * * * * * * *

_"Whoa. Now this is art."_

"What do you mean, Roxas?" asked Sora curiously. The backstreets of the city seemed to be covered in drawings.

"Is he commenting on the art?" Kairi asked with a giggle. "Naminé seems to really like it."

_"Her too, huh? Well, it's certainly better than that cave on the Islands."_

"Cave?" Sora asked. Then he remembered. "H-how did you know about that?" he protested.

_"Naminé told me, of course."_

_If Naminé knew… did that mean Kairi saw?_ He turned towards the girl, his face glowing red, only to find her blushing as well. _Oh no._ He distinctly remembered the afternoons they spent in the Islands, in a small cave, drawing on the walls. On their last visit, they had drawn each other's faces smiling at each other on the wall.

Riku reminded them about the Paopu fruit story, too. "Those who share the Paopu fruit will have their future entwined," went the story. Sora just laughed when Riku told him, but later, he slipped back into the cave. When he finished, the picture depicted him offering Kairi half of a Paopu fruit.

Kairi saw?

"No! Naminé, don't you dare!" she protested.

_"Yes, she saw."_

Sora gritted his teeth. "Thanks, Roxas. Now shut up." Somewhere deep in Sora's mind, Roxas grinned. Sora had no way of knowing, of course, that Kairi had made one more addition, to the picture. She had told Naminé, and showed her the painting, during the days they spent on the Island, wondering about the fates of Riku, Sora, and Roxas, when the three didn't return from the Altar of Naught.

And regretted it ever since, thought Roxas with a snicker.

* * * * * * * * * *

A tall, eighteen year-old man stepped out from one of the deserted alleyways. He noted a figure, walking down, past the graffiti murals. He reached into his pocket, drawing forth a sinister looking handgun.

"Alright. It's time," he whispered.

* * * * * * * * * *

"C'mon Kai, let's go back to the _Highwind_," suggested Sora. Kairi nodded, and the two turned to leave. As he turned, Sora collided into a boy of about his age, and the two went sprawling.

"Ouch… sorry!" Sora said quickly, rising to his feet and helping the unfortunate stranger up. He looked to be about Sora's age.

In fact, Kairi noted, he looked a lot like Sora. Maybe it had to do with the brown spiky hair, although the stranger's hair was of a lighter hue. He wore a blue, high collared t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a plain white pair of shorts. Also, he wore something thick and plastic (earmuffs?) around his neck. The stranger smiled.

"No problem, and thanks," he said quietly.

"_Sora! Watch out!"_

Sora had sensed the danger as well. In a blink of an eye, the Oblivion keychain leapt from Sora's pocket to his hand. At the same moment, the stranger's eyes widened, sensing danger, and he rolled aside. Behind him, from the alleyway, emerged a dangerous looking figure.

He was young, no more than a year older than Riku, perhaps. His skin had a slightly darker hue, accentuated by his gray hair. He wore a black baseball cap with a single button on the front, over a red bandana, and a matching black coat and jeans. The coat was most unusual, with gold buttons, and short sleeves. His black jeans were scarred in many places as well.

More importantly, he held a gun in one hand, and it was pointed straight as Sora. A gunshot sounded, just as the keyblade materialized, ready to deflect the incoming bullet, as Sora had done in his battle against Xenmas.

No. Not a bullet. Twelve bullets. As the bullet sped toward Sora, seemingly in slow motion, the air around it shimmered, and the bullet multiplied many times. A loud screech was heard, as metal struck keyblade, and one of the bullets bounced away harmlessly. Several more flew by the agile keyblade master.

Two more struck him, one in each shoulder. One more struck him in the heart.

Sora collapsed to the ground. Kairi screamed, in horror, in fear, in denial, but he could not hear her. Blood trickled from the three wounds, but didn't flow, as his heart was no longer beating.

The assailant's eyes widened in shock and frustration. "I blew it…" he whispered, his voice carrying through the air to those who could still hear him. And with that, he simply faded away.


	3. Chapter 2: Welcome to the Underground

**Chapter 2: Welcome to the Underground**

Before she knew it, she was at the fallen boy's side. She summoned all the curative spells that Riku had taught to her, and tried to summon those that she had seen Sora had use. She ripped her pack open, reaching for the hi-potions and the valuable, potent elixirs.

_"Kairi, no!"_

She heard Naminé, trying to hold back tears of her own, but she ignored her. Sora couldn't be dead, he just couldn't. It just wasn't possible. The other boy, heedless of the incident, still stared down the alleyway, where the mysterious assailant had simply vanished. Blood began to pool beneath Sora, who still lay face down on the cold, cold ground. A warm hand closed on Kairi's shoulder, trying to offer her comfort. But she noticed none of this. She didn't feel her powers draining away, or hear Naminé's desperate pleas.

"Neku! Are you okay!?" came a cry. A young, black-haired girl of about Kairi's age was sprinting down the backstreet, trailing an older boy. She wore a simple green coat, and white skirt, and carried a small black stuffed animal of some sort. The boy in front of her wore a white muscle shirt and a pair of yellow shorts. His blonde hair was crowned with a black beanie with a white skull emblazoned on the front. Behind the two came a much younger girl, 13 years old, at most. She, too, had blonde hair, and she wore a beanie similar to that of the older boy. She also had on a orange sweatshirt and a pair of overly large baggy yellow shorts.

"Yo, Phones!" cried the older boy. He raced over, crouching down by the other boy. "That was him, yo! I saw him! It was Pi-Face, yo!" Before he could say anymore, the black-haired girl pushed him aside. "Neku, are you…" she trailed off. Then she noticed Sora, laying on the ground. "Omigosh!" she cried suddenly, racing to Kairi's side.

Her presence startled the other boy, Neku, as she had called him. "I'm fine, Shiki," he muttered, as he leapt up and ran over to where Kairi still knelt, using up what was left of her magic. He crouched down, placing a finger on Sora's neck, checking for a pulse. Then he shook his head.

Finally, Kairi stopped. Her magic was spent, she had done everything she could. Empty hi-potion bottles lay strewn across the ground, and shards of golden glass lay where she had discarded the empty elixir bottle. None of it had worked.

Because as powerful as potions and _Cure_ magic could be, none of it could resurrect the dead.

Silent tears streamed down her face, as one of the strange vehicles arrived, and adults, wearing plain white uniforms, lifted Sora's body into the emergency vehicle.

"Beat, we need to go," the boy, Neku, said urgently. He glanced at Kairi, and the black-haired girl whom he had called Shiki, and turned to the younger girl. "Rhyme, go with Shiki, alright? We'll meet you at the usual spot after." With that, Neku and Beat left. The remaining four followed the ambulance to the hospital.

* * * * * * * * * *

They sat in the unusually comfortable waiting room, as the men with white coats examined Sora's body. Kairi cupped her face in her hands, trying to hold back the seemingly endless tears.

"Kairi, please… Sora would hate this… it's bad enough already," came a voice from her right.

"Sora isn't here," Kairi muttered grimly from behind her clenched teeth. "It's not fair, it's not right!" she burst out, tears flowing once more.

"I know. I can't believe it… but he's really… there's no use crying," said Roxas quietly, as if he was trying to hold back tears himself. He shifted closer, allowing Kairi to lean against his shoulder. Kairi leaned against him for a full minute, until she finally realized who it was.

"R-Roxas?" she said, shocked, her tears stemmed for the moment. A voice in her head echoed her sentiments precisely.

_"Roxas!? How are you… how did you…"_

"It's me, Kairi… Nam," he added with a teary half smile, knowing that his dear friend could hear him. "I guess… with him gone, I had to be by myself again." Suddenly his expression grew stern. "Kairi, please, no more tears. Sora would hate himself. He would do anything to stop you from crying, anything at all."

"It's just so hard," Kairi whispered. As the words left her mouth, one of the men with the white coats stepped out of the other room. Roxas, and the two girls, Shiki and Rhyme, who had followed them to the hospital, looked at the him. He sadly shook his head.

How useful, Roxas thought with a grimace. As if we didn't already know he was dead?

"Kairi?" a quiet voiced asked hesitantly. It was Shiki, the black-haired girl from before with the stuffed animal. Kairi didn't look up. "Kairi," she said, a bit more forcefully.

Roxas noted that the younger girl looked to Shiki, seeming panic-struck. "Shiki, we can't-" she began.

Shiki turned and glanced at the younger girl. "Rhyme, she needs to know," she said quietly.

"Needs to know what?" asked Roxas, gently. "I'm Roxas," he said, introducing himself as an afterthought.

"My name is Shiki Misaki, and this is my friend Rhyme. I think-" she began, then swallowed. "We need to talk."

Roxas shook his head. "Not now," he said, grimly.

"No. Please, Roxas. It's important… it's about him," she said, nodding towards the room where Sora's body still lay.

Kairi finally looked up. Her gaze met Shiki's, and she felt the urgency, the sincerity… and even hope. Kairi nodded, and forced herself to her feet. "Alright," she said quietly.

Her face still streaked with tears, and leaning on Roxas for support, she followed Shiki, and the unsure Rhyme, out of the hospital.

* * * * * * * * * *

He felt like he'd been sleeping in a cement mixer. His entire body ached, and he was more tired than he had ever been. Maybe he'd sleep another hour or so. His lips curled into a small smile at that thought. Every time he thought about spending more time asleep, someone in his head would whine about it, loudly enough for him to awaken.

Several moments passed.

"Roxas?" he whispered. He opened his eyes when no answer came.

Sora pushed himself to his feet. He was in a strange room. The floor was covered with cold, glass tiles, and reflected light in a dozen directions at once. He heard the sound of water, and noted a beautiful fish tank on his left. He looked around the room carefully, noticing he wasn't alone. He counted fifteen other people in the room. Some were asleep, others were silent, and a few whispered silently with each other.

Something was wrong. Where was Roxas? Who were these people? Why did they all feel… scared?

"Kairi!" he said loudly, and suddenly. He stood up sharply. Two of the people leaning against the wall looked at him, sympathetically, but he ignored them. He remembered the man with the black outfit, his keyblade, the bullets. He remembered the sharp pain, and his world going black.

"You're awake," came an amused voice. He turned towards the voice and saw another man whom he hadn't noticed before. He was tall, taller than Riku, and seemed to be in his mid thirties at least. His mid length silver hair flowed down, reaching the shoulders of a pearl white coat. A strange light obscured his facial features, but his voice was cool. Something about him just seemed... serene, Sora thought.

"Ah, and them as well," the mysterious man said, as the remaining two, a young couple perhaps, awoke. "Perhaps it's time to begin." As he said this, he moved closer to the center of the room.

"Welcome, one and all, to the Underground of Shibuya," he said grandly. "I am sorry to inform you, that each and every one of you, has met his or her own untimely demise. Fortunately for you, however, you will all be given an opportunity," he turned, meeting their eyes in turn, although no one could see past the blinding light.

"As the Composer of Shibuya, I have created a simple game. Those who pass away before their time has truly come will be given a chance to play," he said. Whispers filled the room. The Composer, as he had called himself, continued to explain. "Our world is not a single dimension. The Real Ground, or the RG, is where you truly belong. To give you this opportunity, I have moved each and every one of you, after your death, to the Underground, or the UG, instead."

"The rules of this game are simple. Every day, you will be given a mission. If the mission is not completed within the time limit, you will all be erased. After the seventh day, those who remain, if any, will be considered victorious."

"That's all?" Sora muttered. "This sounds easy… but does this mean… I'm really dead?"

"However, there are a few complications," the Composer said, with a grin that no one could see. "First of all is the pact. While you are in the UG, you can not survive without a partner for more than seven minutes. When the game begins, you must find yourself a partner immediately. Beware, once a pact is made, it can not be undone. Your lives will be entwined."

"That doesn't sound good," said Sora. "Wish Riku was here," he muttered. "Actually, seeing as I died to get here, I'm kind of glad he isn't here."

"There are also two obstacles to your success. The first are the reapers. The reapers may block your path, presenting challenges, or riddles. They may summon noise, in an attempt to destroy you. However, the reapers are not permitted to strike out at you directly, until day seven. On the seventh day, the Game Master, who has yet to be selected, will be permitted to attack you. You may wonder what the aforementioned noise is. Noise is the second obstacle. They are creatures existing on a plane between the UG and the RG. They will hunt any player without a pact determinedly. Your missions may require you to battle noise as well. Wandering noise though, is of no threat to a player protected by a pact."

"Finally, there is one last issue to be taken care of. In order to participate in the game, you must forfeit that which is most important to you, as your entry fee. Should you emerge victorious, it will be returned to you. Should you be erased, your entry fee will be lost."

An alarm went off in Sora's head. Entry fee? What he cared about most?

* * * * * * * * * *

_It was just the three of them, like always. Sora and Kairi sat on the branch, and Riku leaned against the tree. The sun beamed brightly on them. The gentle sea breeze rolled over the trio. Sora closed his eyes and smiled. It was so familiar, so quiet, so soothing._

_They were what mattered to him most. Riku. Kairi. He had traveled through more than a dozen worlds, sealed scores of keyholes, and destroyed thousands of heartless, all for his friends. In fact, at times like these, nothing else mattered._

* * * * * * * * * *

"Interesting," came a sly remark. Sora's eyes opened in a flash, and he noticed that the mysterious Composer was standing straight in front of him. "You… you were reading my mind!" he said, outraged.

The man merely chuckled and held up his hands. "Sorry, but it's hard to see what you truly care about most without taking a peek first, wouldn't you agree?"

"You can't take them!" Sora whispered. "If that's my fee, then I'm not going to play your stupid-"

Before Sora could say anymore, something drifted out of his pocket. It was the Orichalum charm, crafted in the likeness of Kairi's thalassa shell charm.

"This will be your entry fee," he said. Then he leaned closer. Almost apologetically, he whispered in Sora's ear, "I'm sorry about this…"

Then he moved back to the center of the room. "Alright then. Now that the entry fees have been paid, it's time for the game to begin. Remember the rules. Good luck," he finished, looking at each of them in turn. The light faded slightly, and his gray eyes became apparent for the first time. Sora watched as he looked at each player in turn, ending with him.

No. Not ending, as the Composer then looked straight behind Sora. Sora turned, and leaning in the corner was another player he hadn't noticed. A familiar man with tanned skin and gray hair, a black baseball cap over a red bandana, and a black coat with short sleeves, matching his scarred black jeans.

"Y-You!" Sora cried suddenly. The keychain leapt from his pocket, materializing into a blade. Sora dove at the man, who only grimaced. "You killed me!" Sora shouted angrily, as his world turned red. Then it faded to black.

* * * * * * * * * *

Kairi, Roxas, and Rhyme sat uncomfortably on the benches near the statute of a dog. Kairi noticed the beacon by which they could return to their ship, although it repulsed her.

_"You don't want to leave either?"_

Kairi shook her head mentally. "I can't," she muttered. "I can't leave him… I won't."

Sitting beside her, Roxas clenched his fingers. "I haven't been real for such a long time," he groaned. "I can't even see or hear Naminé anymore."

_"Is that what he's worried about!?"_

Suddenly, Shiki, who was standing near the edge of the sidewalk, waved towards the crowd. As she did so, Neku and Beat, the two boys from before, approached.

"He's still missing, yo!" Beat said, before Neku could speak. Shiki looked to Neku, who merely nodded. Shiki cursed under her breath, before leading them back.

"Kairi, Roxas?" she said kindly. "This is Neku and Beat," she said, pointing to the two boys in turn. "Neku, Beat, this is Kairi and Roxas."

"Sorry about your friend, yo," said Beat.

_"He talks funny."_

Roxas stood up and shook each of their hands, in turn, before turning back to Shiki.

"So why did you want to talk?"

Shiki turned to Neku for a moment. "Neku, we can tell them, right?"

Neku merely shrugged. "I doubt they'd believe us."

"Sure we would," said Roxas. "We've seen a lot."

Shiki nodded. "Okay then. Neku, Beat, Rhyme, and I, all died about a month ago."

Kairi and Roxas exchanged looks. "So… you're ghosts?" asked Kairi hesitantly.

"Nah, we real, yo!" said Beat happily. "We got rescurated!"

"Resurrected," Rhyme corrected.

"You see, Kairi," Shiki began. "In this world, people who die before they're meant to get a second chance. There's a powerful person known as the Composer," at the mention of him, a shadow crossed Neku's face, which Shiki ignored, "who runs a game. Those who die can play the game, and if they win, some of them can… come back to life," she finished.

Kairi's eyes widened, shocked. "Sora… can come back?" she stammered.

"Yes," said Rhyme, with a smile.

"But… how do people die then?" asked Roxas. "If no one dies, then wouldn't this place be even more crowded?"

Neku shook his head. "The game isn't easy. In fact, most people don't survive."

Kairi brushed the words off. "Sora will win," she said certainly.

Roxas was less sure. "People don't know about this game?" he asked.

"Nah, we ain't tellin' people yo," said Beat.

"Roxas, we don't want to give people false hope," Shiki said quietly.

"Then why are you telling us?" asked Roxas.

"Because something's different," said Neku. "We know the person who killed your friend. He's not supposed to exist. Tomorrow, we'll go talk to the Composer."

Roxas smiled. "Even if he can't help, I bet Sora will be fine."

"How do you know?" asked Rhyme curiously. She seemed wiser and more observant than the rest in the group. "Does it have to do with the strange weapon he had?"

Roxas smiled at Kairi, who managed a small , teary smile back, and the two began to explain.

Three hours later, it was getting dark. Beat and Rhyme, who turned out to be siblings, and Neku, headed off.

"Kairi, where are you two staying?" she asked.

"We'll probably go back to our ship," said Roxas, indicating the beacon behind the statute.

"No," said Kairi, firmly, but quietly. "I don't want to leave Sora here alone." Turning to Shiki, she said "We'll find somewhere, don't worry."

"Well… I think my parents would let you stay over at our place," Shiki offered. "Neku's stayed over a couple times, usually after fighting with his parents."

Kairi nodded. "Thanks, Shiki," she said, and the three of them left as well, Shiki leading the way, and Kairi lagging behind slightly.

Kairi turned, and whispered, hoping Sora was nearby, "Sora… please… don't lose. We'll find you."


	4. Chapter 3: The Game Begins

**Chapter 3: Day One, The Game Begins**

"Did I black out?" Sora mumbled, as he stood up. He looked around and realized, he was in the huge crossroads, near the statute of the dog. A nearby street sign read "Scramble Crossing."

"This looks just like normal," he said to himself. "Was it all a bad dream? No, if it was, Roxas would still be here…"

He turned to a passerby. "Excuse me," he said politely. She ignored him. Then she walked through him.

Sora stood for a moment, mouth open. "Okay then," he said with a sigh. "It wasn't a dream, and now I'm a ghost."

He replayed the meeting in his mind, trying to remember the rules. "Oh right, a pact! I need to… ouch!" he said, startled, as a timer suddenly appeared, burned into his palm. It read "60:00"… or did, as it began ticking immediately. Suddenly, he noticed something strange moving behind him. He dove aside as a large frog of some sort leapt to the spot where he stood a mere minute ago.

"C'mon then!" Sora shouted, calling his keyblade. Oblivion, his powerful keyblade, appeared in his hands, and he carefully positioned it to block the frog's next attack. He parried the tackle easily, the frog bouncing away. Then he leapt forward, swiping downwards at the frog. The blade merely bounced off the frog. Undeterred, he stabbed at it quickly, then pivoted, bringing his keyblade into a full swipe. Both attacks were blocked by an unseen barrier.

Unwilling to give up, Sora leapt back, and raised his keyblade. A powerful blasted of lightning struck the frog. Or would have, if it wasn't for the invisible barrier.

Horrified, Sora watched as two, three, five more frogs leapt towards him, joining the first. He was surrounded. Suddenly, he heard a scream. He rolled past another attack and ran west, heading towards the dog statute, from where he heard the scream. The composers words echoed in his mind.

_When the game begins, you must find yourself a partner immediately. _

Maybe someone else still needed a partner. As he approached, he saw the statute, and 3 people standing before it. Near them was a massive pile of… stuff. There were two crushed box vehicles, a cart that resembled the ice cream stand in the Radiant Garden, a piece of what looked like Gummi ship, a trash can, a few broken skateboards, and other bits and pieces. A figure sat at the top of the heap, silhouetted against the sun.

The group of three looked familiar. A boy of about Riku's age, with short brown hair and a conservative business suit stood, holding hands with a schoolgirl of about his age. "Makoto!" the girl screamed. The boy turned and tossed a ladle at a frog, as six of them approached the 3. Behind the two stood a second schoolgirl, a friend of the first perhaps. "Please!" the first girl cried, surprisingly, towards the junk heap. Form a pact with Mina!

The man sitting at the top of the pile merely laughed. "You factoring yoctograms, I don't need a pact!" Sora rushed forward towards the three. The boy dove past the frogs, retrieving his ladle, and smashed the nearest frog with it, again and again. The barrier that had blocked Sora's attacks was no longer present, and the frog rolled aside before fading.

"You! Make a pact with me! Quick!" shouted the other girl, running past her two friends. Sora nodded and tried to reach her.

Too late. A frog leapt up, slamming into the boys head, before leaping off and crashing on the running girl's back. "Makoto! Mina!" the third girl screamed, as the two faded. All the frogs rounded on her.

"So zetta slow!" the man on top of the junk heap taunted. Sora scowled. He launched a shower of ice, which merely succeeded in turning all the frogs on him instead. He began to fight them, but it was useless. He simply couldn't hurt them. As he tried to break through, to reach the first girl, he saw her flee back towards the Scramble.

"You!" he shouted to the man on the junk heap. "Make a pact with me! Please!" He turned away another attack. Even as he said so, two of the frogs jumped towards the heap, trying to reach the man on top.

"You zetta sons of digits!" the man on top roared, standing up tall. "Prepare to be iterated!" He stretched out his palm, and several shimmering red blades swung around wildly, knocking both the attackers off the heap. Like Sora's magic though, it didn't harm the noise the slightest. He groaned. "Fine!" he shouted towards Sora.

Sora dodged another frog, dashed past the pair that had fallen off the garbage heap, and held out his right hand, holding the keyblade in his left. He felt the stranger's hand close over his, and a sudden warmth. He gave the frogs a goofy smile before leaping forward, bashing one over the head.

This time the keyblade connected, and the frog faded away. Sora launched a burst of flames, burning 3 of them, and their charred corpses vanished as well. Seven more jumped up. "There's no end to these things," grumbled Sora. His partner laughed. Sora turned, and realization hit him.

"YOU!" he said furiously. It was him again, the mysterious assailant dressed in black, with the baseball cap over the red bandana. Partner or not, he was going to beat this creep to death. Twice.

Even as he raised his keyblade, the man changed, warping into some sort of monster. It was a black and white bipedal beast of some sort, with a mane that resembled a lion's. "Die, radians!" he roared, in a much deeper voice. He rushed forward, grabbing one of the frogs. He held it, strangling it for a moment, and ignoring the repeated tackles from the other ones. Then he slammed it downwards. A shockwave emanated from that point, and every frog in sight faded.

The creature laughed as he slowly shrank and changed back. A keyblade flew through the air, but a mere inch from striking him, he faded away, and reappeared behind Sora. The keyblade flew back like a boomerang, Sora catching it and turning around.

"So zetta slow," the strange man said again. He wore a maniacal grin on his face. "You factoring hectopascal, I'm your partner. You erase me, you disappear too!"

Sora growled. "I don't care!" As he said so, he heard another scream for help. The girl who had fled before had returned. She had become transparent.

"W-What's happening!?" she cried. Sora looked down to his hand. "51:26". He watched as it counted down, and hit 51 minutes precisely. At that exact moment, the girl disappeared. Sora gulped.

"Alright... we'll talk," he said, defeated. "Hello?" He turned, and saw his partner glaring at one of the benches. On it sat a familiar boy. "He's the one I saw before I died," he muttered.

As the partners watched, the boy, Neku, leapt to his feet. He waved in the direction of the scramble. Sora turned, and gasped. Shiki was waving back, and following her was Kairi and… Roxas?

He raced forward, running through everyone. "Kairi!" he cried. She didn't even notice him. Her eyes seemed to shine with tears, and try as she might, she couldn't keep the saddened, grieving expression off her face. Rather, she kept walking, even walking through him. Roxas, though, stopped.

"Kairi," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "He's here…"

Kairi turned around at once, gaping. "Really? He… he's here?"

Sora looked at her sadly. "Sure. I'm here. Just you can't see me… because of my partner," he spat, rounding on the said murderer, who simply ignored him. He seemed intent on conjuring bits of garbage, and adding it to the pile he was sitting on before.

"Sora, Roxas says you're out there… I hope you can hear me," Kairi said, pleading desperately. "Please, be careful. I want to help you, we all do." Sora smiled. He couldn't help but smile, mentally or physically, when Kairi was talking to him, even when she was angry. "Take care of yourself, you lazy bum. We'll get you out." A single tear leaked from her eye, trickled down her cheek, and splashed onto the ground. Roxas put a hand on her shoulder.

"C'mon Kai, we're late."

Sora shook his head. He didn't know how Roxas was… well, Roxas again, but he was glad. "Take care of her," he said. Roxas froze for a moment, then nodded. "Sora, I know you're out there," he said with a grin. "I can still feel your thoughts… sort of."

"So zetta slow!" came a complaint from behind him. Sora turned. There were now three huge piles of old garbage, and a very angry teen standing in front of it. Sora took a deep breath. Then he moved closer and extended a hand.

"Sora," he said. "Guess we're partners then," he mumbled.

Ignoring the offered hand, his partner started off. "C'mon, we have to get to 104."

"104?" asked Sora. "How do you know?" 104 was the first department store they visited… he thought. He looked down, the timer now read 35:29.

"Stupid zeroes! Didn't you read the mission mail?"

"Mission mail?"

"So zetta slow! It was sent to your phone, you factoring yoctogram!"

"Cell… phone?" asked Sora, thoroughly confused. His partner slapped his own forehead.

"You're so zetta useless!" he lifted a small object from his pocket. "See?"

Sora looked at it, recognizing it at once as one of the small electronic devices for sale in 104 the day before. "I don't have one… am I going to need one?"

His partner groaned, and tossed his own over. A message on it read:

_Reach 104. You have 60 minutes. Fail, and face erasure. – The Reapers_

* * * * * * * * * *

"Where are we going?" asked Kairi. Neku was leading them back to the backstreets, where Sora had been shot.

"Sorry, Kairi, but we need a few photos really quick," said Neku.

Shiki moved closer to Neku. "Neku, what are we doing?" she hissed. "The Shibuya River is the other way!"

Neku nodded. "I know that. But we need a picture, just in case. I hope my phone still works."

They reached the spot where Sora died. Blood still stained the ground. The mere sight of it nearly drove Kairi to tears once more. Neku, ignoring her, pointed his phone at the alleyway. He seemed to playing with a clock on it. Light flashed, and an exact image of the alleyway appeared on the phone.

"Too late," he muttered, and began modifying the clock again.

"What are you doing?" asked Roxas.

"This," said Neku, as light flashed again. This time, the phone showed not only the alleyway, but the strange man from before. "Yep. It's him. Let's go."

Roxas was in awe. "Whoa! What was that?"

"My phone can take pictures of the past," Neku explained. "Now we have some evidence, if Josh doesn't believe us."

"Josh?" asked Roxas.

"Whoa we're taking it to the prissy kid, yo?" asked Beat. Rhyme giggled.

"No, we're taking to the Composer," she said with a smile.

"Yo, but Josh is him, isn't he?

Shiki sighed. "Rhyme's being sarcastic. Yes, we're taking it to Joshua. C'mon, Kairi."

Kairi nodded, not quite understanding, and followed them silently, back to the Scramble Crossing. They passed the department stores where they had spent the previous morning, and then the Scramble, and the statute. They continued, into the train station, all the way to the back, where there was an abandoned passage.

"Watch your step," warned Neku, as they stepped into the Shibuya river passageway. They followed the river, down the winding paths, for a period of time, before emerging in front of a grand door. Neku tried to push the door open. No good. He knocked. No answer.

"We are not going to be stopped by a locked door, Josh!" he cried angrily, slamming both fists into it.

_"Ironic, isn't it?"_

Kairi nodded. They were trying to save Sora… only to be stopped by a door that Sora could open in a flash with his keyblade. Times like these, she wished she had a keyblade of her own…

Even as she thought that, she remembered. "Roxas," she said, turning to him, to find his keyblade already drawn. A beam extended from the Oblivion keyblade, identical to Sora's, and the door flew open. The six of them stepped inside, to find a neatly organized room with a beautiful glass tiled floor, and a graceful fish tank. Other than that, the room contained a small desk, piled high with various documents. Behind the desk sat two people, who both turned at the sound.

"Hey, Phones!" said a taller man, with a pair of sunglasses, black hair, and a hint of a beard growing.

"Well this sure is a surprise, Neku," said the other. He looked to be the same age of Neku, possibly even a bit younger, and had mid-length gray hair, matching his glittering gray eyes. "Beat, Shiki, and Rhyme too. It's almost like a party," he said, with a quiet, creepy laugh.

"Mr. H?" Neku said, surprised. It occurred to Kairi that she had never seen Neku so surprised before, not even when they were attacked. "You've been here?"

The taller man, whom Neku addressed, broke out laughing. "Yea well, the others aren't too happy with me right now. I've been hiding here for a few days, but I think they've left. I'll be back at my café shortly." He turned to Roxas and Kairi. "My name's Hanekoma. You can just call me Mr. H though."

He turned to leave. "See you all later," he said with another laugh, and stepped out.

Neku turned back to the boy with gray hair. "Joshua," he said, tossing his phone to the boy. "Why is he back?"

Kairi's jaw dropped. This was the Composer that they were talking about? The single most powerful person in Shibuya?

* * * * * * * * * *

Sora handed the phone back to his partner after taking note of his name. "So this is how we get the missions huh?" His partner nodded. "And your name's Sho Minamimoto?"

"And we've got to get going. T = 30 minutes and ticking," Sho Minamimoto said, leading the way to 104.

As they approached, they noted a man with a red hoodie and a black baseball cap. "Pact confirmed, go right ahead," he said. Even as he said so, though, the timers suddenly disappeared. Sho sighed.

"Guess we're too late, Spikes," he groaned. "So zetta slow."

"Too late? And my name's Sora, not Spikes," Sora said, confused.

"The mission only needs to be completed once. Since someone else already completed it, we're off the hook."

"That's… good isn't it?" Sora asked.

"No, it's not, you yoctogram. Amount of winners returned to life = amount of times a mission must be completed."

Sora looked at him confused. "One!" Sho roared.

As the realization sunk in, Sora's eyes opened wide. "Only… one winner gets resurrected?"

"What the factor took you so long!" Sho complained. "If you want to live, Spikes, we're gonna need to finish these missions ourselves!" His eyes narrowed. "Or… we can do this."

Before Sora could ask for clarification, Sho dashed forward. A pair of players stood near the building. Sora recognized them from the room in which they had been briefed. One of them smiled and waved. "Hey, are you guys the ones who-" before he could finish his sentence, a reddish blade sliced through his chest. Without another word, he collapsed. His partner cried out in horror. "What was that for!?" he shouted, confused, before a barrage of green bolts flew through the air at him. He held up a small pin, and with it, created barrier, but it was useless. The powerful green bolts burned right through the feeble wall. Both players faded away.

"Sho!?" Sora said, shocked. "How… how could you…?" His partner grinned.

"If we're the only 2 left, the odds are 50% that you'll get the prize," he said with a laugh. "Not really," he muttered under his breath.

Sora was horrified. "How… you can't just kill all the other players!"

"Sure can. Stupid zeroes hardly deserve a chance anyways," he said, still smiling. "There were 17 of us. I saw three pairs die, four now, and we had an odd number. That leaves 6 left other than us."

"No," said Sora firmly, crossing his arms. "We aren't killing all the other players so we can have a better chance of getting the prize."

Surprisingly, Sho burst out laughing. "Your funeral, you zetta stupid hectopascal."

Sora glared at him for a moment longer, then sighed. He leaned against the building, and, as if talking to himself, said, "You know, Kai, if it wasn't for you, I'd probably just rip him apart." He looked down glumly. It wasn't a choice anymore. He had to win, not for himself, but for the friends who'd never forgive him if he didn't. And that meant finding a way to live with this jerk for a week.

"_I'll find a way. I promise."_

The world slowly faded to black once more.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Well, Joshua? Why's the Grim Heaper back again?" Neku demanded.

Joshua shrugged. "He's not," he said wryly. "He's in the game right now, I believe. Unless he couldn't find a partner."

"Enough with the riddles Joshua!" Neku stepped closer, angrily. Although she was angry too, Kairi was shocked. From what she noticed, Neku seemed to be the most reclusive of the group, with a cool demeanor rivaling Riku's facade. Shiki noted it and whispered to her, "Don't worry, Neku's always like this when he's talking to Joshua."

"Riddles? Why, I thought that was clear as day," Joshua said with another smirk.

Shiki stepped forward. "Joshua, that man killed someone…"

Joshua smiled. "I know. I told him he could."

Kairi froze. This boy knew? This boy told the assassin to go ahead and kill Sora? Before she could react, the figure beside her leapt into action. Roxas drew two keyblades, Oathkeeper and Oblivion, and jumped forward.

Roxas dived towards Joshua, somersaulting over the desk. With one hand, Joshua deftly caught one of the keyblades, and spun. Roxas was slammed into the ground. Before he could begin to recover, Joshua flipped out a cell phone, pointing it straight as Roxas. Roxas leapt to his feet and slashed again, just as Joshua activated and spun his phone, teleporting the nobody besides a far wall, where he overbalanced and tripped.

"That's quite enough of that," Joshua said, stowing his phone. Unperturbed by the silence, he continued on. "I apologize, Neku, for my… oversight." He turned towards Kairi and Roxas, who staggered back to his feet. "I assume you two are friends of the victim?"

Kairi clenched her hand into a fist. "You asked that man to kill Sora?"

"Oh no," said Joshua. "He asked for a proxy. I acquiesced."

"Joshua, what is going on!?" roared Neku.

"Alright, alright, relax dear," he said, with another devious grin. "Sit down, I suppose an explanation is in order."

Roxas eyed the Composer, eyes full of hatred. Kairi tugged on his hand.

"C'mon Roxas," she said quietly. "We might as well hear him out first." She gave him a sad smile. "We could always try killing him after too," she said, knowing full well that without help, they wouldn't stand a chance. Roxas eyed Joshua carefully for a moment more, before giving a stiff nod and sitting down between Kairi and Beat.

"Thanks to the fatalities of the last game," Joshua began, "the reaper population has been more than halved. Among the deceased are Mitsuki Konishi, Yodai Higashizawa, and Megumi Kitaniji." He noticed the blank expressions on all 6 faces. "You may remember them as Iron-face, Steroids, and Shades," he said smiling, as Neku, Shiki, and Beat's faces lit up in recognition. "So you see, upon the completion of that fateful game, the UG lacks a suitable candidate for the Conductor's seat."

"Except, of course, for the ex-reaper Sho Minamimoto. You remember him of course, Neku, and you, Beat. I had to retire him a bit early, because he threatened to interrupt the finale of the game. However, I did not erase him. Asides from him, the only reaper qualified to be the Conductor, one that you may remember as Lollipop, would blatantly refuse." Joshua shrugged. "So the game begins anew. If Sho proves successful and survives the game, thus regaining his status as a reaper, then he will become the Underground's Conductor."

"Of course, given his individualistic nature, the game would be incredibly, incredibly unfair. Thus I granted both of his requests, to give him a fighting chance. I would not claim an entry fee, and," Joshua turned to look straight at Neku, "he would be allowed to bring a proxy into the UG alongside him, given a single chance." Joshua smirked at them. "You know the rest."

Kairi was beginning to hate that smile. "We do not know the rest! Why did he attack Sora then!? We're not even from your world!"

Surprisingly, it was Neku who answered. "He didn't. He was shooting for me… right, Joshua?"

For once, Joshua looked slightly uneasy. He nodded. "I should've realized. Of course he would've chosen you, Neku, veteran and victor of three games. Even though you technically can not compete, anyways. Kairi," he said, turning to her. He noted her confused expression. "I learned your name from Sora. Of course, under the normal conditions, you would have been his entry fee. I realized as much when scanning him, before the game began."

As the words sunk in, Kairi's eyes widened. "But, it wasn't hard to discern that he doesn't belong. Rules are rules. They can be bent, but not broken. As a token of my sympathies, I chose a different entry fee," Joshua continued. "Besides, it's hardly sporting to claim an entry fee from another, as Megumi did to you, Neku."

Roxas leapt back to his feet. "Let me get this straight. You gave this man permission to kill anyone from the city, anyone at all? And when he killed someone accidentally, someone who hardly deserved it, your apology is to take something only mildly less valuable as a 'fee' to play a game he doesn't even want to play!?" he shouted angrily.

Joshua shook his head. "As I have said, rules are rules. If I could do anything more, I would. And as for not wanting to play… well, let's just say that's not entirely true." He looked towards Kairi. "I can also tell you this. Sora has, fortunately, found himself a partner, and survived the first day. However, he's far too nice for his own good," he said, echoing the sentiments Ansem had shared to Roxas months ago.

"If you need anything, I'll be here. You could also ask Sanae for help, should you need it. He ought to be re-opening his coffee store early tomorrow." Joshua fiddled with a pin on the desk for a moment. "Actually, Neku, if you don't mind, would you mind delivering this to him tomorrow morning? Bring your new friends as well, I believe Hanekoma should meet them."

Neku looked at Joshua murderously, as did Roxas. Joshua sighed, and passed the note to Kairi instead.

"Bring this to the Wildkat Café past the park, on the outskirts of Shibuya," he instructed. "Oh, and the pin you purchased yesterday… give it to Sora the next time you meet," he said with a smile.


	5. Chapter 4: Respite

**Chapter 4: Day Two, Respite**

Sora awoke to the sounds of the Scramble Crossing once more. "How did I get here?" he muttered. He turned around, looking for Sho, although the urges to murder his partner hadn't subsided fully.

"So zetta slow!" Sora turned and saw his partner, toying with the cell phone again. "The mission mail," he explained, looking up. Almost immediately, the phone gave off a ringing noise, and Sora felt a painful burn on his palm once more. "20.00," the timer read.

Sho read the message mail aloud. "Reach the angel's café within twenty minutes. Fail, and face erasure." He groaned. "Whoever's writing these missions needs a sense of style."

"Angel's Café?" asked Sora. "Where's that?"

Sho opened his mouth, then closed it. "Wait a moment," he muttered. "No one is supposed to know... why would it say this?"

"Something wrong?" asked Sora, genuinely worried. "We only have fifteen minutes left..."

Sho shook his head. "C'mon," he said, leading the way, mumbling about zetta stupid reapers.

The two raced down, past the high-end department store, and down a quieter street, through the park Sora had been through on the first day. The timer vanished as they reached the last building on the block, the café that had been closed when Sora and Kairi dropped by.

"Mission complete," Sora said with relief. They were down to three minutes when the timer vanished. "The store's still closed though," he observed.

"Nah, the zetta lazy owner just never changes the sign," said Sho, trying to open the door. It was locked.

* * * * * * * * * *

To Kairi's surprise, Neku was waiting in front of the Wildkat Café, when they arrived early in the morning.

"Hey, Neku!" greeted Shiki cheerfully. She had agreed to accompany Kairi. Unlike Roxas, who was still angry with Joshua.

"Hey Shiki," replied Neku, nonchalantly. "Good morning, Kairi."

"The sign still says he's closed," commented Kairi. "You know, it was closed when... when Sora and I were here."

"Nah, he just never changes the sign," said Shiki, giggling.

_"Sounds just like Sora, doesn't it?"_

Kairi smiled. Neku knocked on the door, "Mr. H!" he called. "Must still be asleep," he said. "He was when I tried that-" Before he could finish, the door slid open.

"Hey Neku, Shiki," Mr. H said brightly. "Oh and... Kairi, is it?" he said. "Josh said you'd have a letter for me."

"Here," Kairi said, handing over the letter. "Wait a moment... when did he tell you that?" The man just laughed.

"C'mon inside," he offered. Neku and Shiki entered, leading Kairi to a booth in the corner. Shortly after, the shopkeeper brought a few cups of a strange, brownish liquid over. "On the house," he said cheerfully, handing one to each of them.

The drink was warm, sweet, and a little bit bitter. _I think I prefer plain fruit juice, _Kairi thought to herself.

_"Don't complain Kairi, at least you can drink something."_

"So, how've you all been holding up?" asked Hanekoma curiously, looking particularly at Kairi, who wasn't sure what to say. What were you supposed to say, after all, when someone asked you how you were, mere days after your best friend was killed? The friend who crossed a dozen worlds to find you? The friend who you thought was invincible, and you thought would always be there?

"Fine," she said quietly. Hanekoma merely raised his eyebrows. Kairi sat there, uncomfortably, as Neku and Shiki explained to Mr. H what Joshua had told them the evening before.

"He's right, you know. His hands are tied. Still... he really is sorry."

"What would you know about that?" Kairi said sharply. Even as she said that, a knock was heard. Mr. H opened the door, but no one was standing outside. He smiled. "That you, Minamimoto?"

Sure enough, a very familiar man stepped into the room, decked out in black, and a red bandana beneath his cap. It was as if he was invisible until he entered the building. Kairi gasped and grabbed the Wizard's Relic she had borrowed from Donald, and stood, pointing the staff straight at him.

Then a second person entered the room. Upon seeing him, Kairi dropped the staff, in shock.

Sora was dumbfounded as well. She was here? And she could see him?

Sho burst out laughing. "Nice mission, Sanae, those factoring yoctograms are probably still trying to figure it out!" he said gleefully.

"Well, I tried," said the Wildkat Café owner with a smile. "Hey, Sora. Glad you could make it."

"She... she can see me?" Sora asked, startled.

"Course Spikes, didn't you see the decal?" Sho pointed at a symbol painted against the wall outside. "It's the same as your player pin." Player pin? What the hell was that?

"Everywhere you see this, people can see you inside," explained Mr. H.

Finally, Kairi regained her sense and moved closer.

"C'mon, Minamimoto. You can bring me up to date back there," said Hanekoma, gesturing to the backroom. Sho grinned and followed him quickly.

"Hey, Kairi," Sora said weakly. Before he could say anything more, she suddenly jumped towards him, embracing him tightly. "Whoa! Kai!" Sora cried out, surprised. Kairi let go slowly, and silently. Then she balled her hand into a fist, and pounded him in the shoulder. "Ouch!"

"You, lazy, bum!" she screamed, angrily, hitting him between words. "Would it have killed you to jump away like Neku did!? Or find me earlier!?" she shouted furiously, knowing how absurd she sounded. She broke down, crying and laughing at once, and holding him tightly once more.

"Kairi, I..." Sora began. "I'm sorry," he said, unsure of what else to say. Shiki giggled, and Sora turned, noticing the couple sitting in the corner booth. "Hey... aren't you the one who was there when I..." he said, searching for the right words.

Neku nodded. Kairi let go at last, and the two sat down facing Shiki and Neku.

"This is Sora," she introduced, as she sat down.

"We know," Neku said dryly.

"I'm Shiki Misaki," Shiki said. "This is Neku Sakuraba," she continued, pointing to Neku, who nodded. Then she lowered her voice. "How are you doing, Sora?"

Sora groaned. "Well, other than the fact I'm partnered with the one who killed me, it's not so bad."

Neku grinned. "Been there, done that."

Kairi and Sora both gaped at him. "What?" he said innocently, still smiling. "How do you think I met Josh?"

"Josh...?" asked Sora. Kairi, unlike Sora, remembered Josh all too well.

"Him!? You had to deal with him as your partner!?" she exclaimed, seeing poor Neku in a totally new light.

"How did you ever make it through that week?" Sora asked, groaning.

Neku glanced at Shiki, who smiled again. "Well, uh... I wasn't up to losing my entry fee," he said, avoiding the question. "Don't worry about it, Sora. I know it sounds terrible, but it's only seven days... well, five now."

"I guess," said Sora, annoyed. "But my partner... he's worse than any of those Organization XIII members were."

Shiki looked at him curiously. "Organization XIII? They're not that bad, are they?" After all, she had only ever met one (ex) member, and he wasn't unfriendly at all.

"You know about them?" Sora asked. Shiki and Neku both nodded.

"They heard from Roxas," Kairi said. "Which is probably who they were comparing against..."

"Oh yeah! Where is Roxas, anyways?" said Sora, who suddenly remembered his nobody.

"He didn't feel up to coming," said Kairi.

"Anyhow, what'd Pi-Face do to piss you off so badly?" asked Neku. "Recite Pi to the hundredth digit?"

Sora shook his head. "Worse. He started killing the other players."

Shiki's eyes widened at that, as Neku screamed, "What!?" quite indignantly. Kairi looked torn, though, remembering Joshua's cryptic warning from the day before.

"Yea. Told you, didn't I?" said Sora miserably. "He says only one person can be given a new life, so if we eliminate all the other players, I'd have a better chance of winning. Who does he think he is?"

Neku turned to make sure Sho was still in the back room. Then he leaned closer. "Sora, be careful, alright? The Grim Heaper was the Game Master for week 2."

That startled Sora. "Game Master? He's a reaper!?"

Neku shook his head. "Was. Joshua and I got him, but it wasn't enough. He somehow... brought himself back, as a noise. Even though he was more than dead, he was erased. Anyhow, we beat him again. He's playing again, because winners... well, winners can opt to become a reaper, instead of playing again, if they aren't resurrected.

Sora's eyes widened. "So if we win, but someone else comes back to life... I could come back as a reaper?"

"Don't, Sora," said Shiki sharply. "Reapers have to earn their own lifespan, by making puzzles, or-"

"Erasing players," finished Neku. "Even if you could stand the job, you wouldn't be able to leave Shibuya, you'd have to hunt players, day after day, in the Underground."

Sora nodded. "Alright. So, Sho wants to become a reaper?"

"Joshua told us yesterday. If Sho becomes a reaper, he'll also become the Conductor," confirmed Kairi.

"Well, so as long as the two of us do best, I'll be fine, right?" said Sora, beginning to smile. "I don't like him much," Sora admitted, "but if we do better than anyone else, he becomes a reaper, and I'll be free, right?"

"Yep," said Neku.

"Hey guys, why don't we go get lunch together?" said Shiki.

Kairi immediately shook her head. "We can't leave here, remember?" she said, looking at Sora nervously. "We can't see Sora once we leave."

"Sure we could," answered Neku. "Most restaurants in Shibuya have the reaper decal painted.

"Really? Great!" said Sora happily. "I don't remember the last time I've had anything to eat."

"Why don't we drop by Shadow Ramen?" Shiki suggested. "It's the one on Dogenzaka."

"Didn't we have Ramen there last time?" Sora said, asking Kairi. Kairi nodded.

"It wasn't bad," said Kairi. "But there was another really crowded restaurant down the street."

"Oh, you went to Ken Doi's Ramen Don," said Shiki. "Well, the really crowded one is Shadow Ramen, but we'd be early so we should get in."

"Okay then," Sora agreed. "That alright with you, Neku?"

"Sure," said Neku, standing up. "I'll go tell Mr. H."

Predictably, Sho didn't feel like accompanying the four. Sora didn't particularly mind. They may be partners, but Sho seemed more than capable of taking care of himself, and Sora honestly couldn't complain about time away from him.

Right before they left, Kairi turned to Sora. "Sora," she whispered. "Don't disappear, okay?"

"Don't worry Kairi, I'll be there," Sora said.

"Promise?"

Sora smiled and nodded, and Kairi was satisfied. He had never broken his promises to her before, and she didn't think he'd start now. The two left the store, Sora becoming invisible once more, and they made their way across the city.

* * * * * * * * * *

Sora followed the other three closely, trying not to fall behind. He didn't fancy explaining to Kairi he was late because he got lost. Fortunately, it seemed a pretty straightforward path. They returned to the scramble, and walked north to the 104 department store. From there, they headed west, onto Dogenzaka street.

Or would have. As Sora followed the others, he collided with some sort of wall.

Sora looked around. There was nothing unusual about, and nothing in the way. He tried again, and once again, found something invisible blocking the path. He swore.

"C'mon now, am I that hard to spot?" drawled a voice from the side of the street. Neku turned and noticed a man, dressed like the one standing in front of 104 the day before, in a red hoodie. "Yes, I'm a reaper," he said, his lips curling into a smile. "I'll lower the barrier... if you can erase all the noise in this area."

Sora groaned. Why now? He turned around, searching for noise. "I don't see any noise," he said. The reaper laughed. "You haven't even looked!" Sora gave him a confused look.

"Man, how've you lasted this long?" the reaper laughed again. "Try the player pin, newbie." Sora reached into his pocket and found a small pin, emblazoned with the same symbol of the reaper decal. As he held it in his hand, his senses seemed to sharpen. He noticed a pair of frogs bouncing around, ignoring him. He also heard voices speaking, suddenly.

"See?" said the reaper. "Now you can see the noise... AND read minds. Go wild."

Read minds? That would be interesting. Noise first. "Thanks," he said to the reaper. He lifted his keyblade, and dashed forward. Sensing the danger, the two frogs turned towards him. Too late. "Stop!" Sora commanded, casting a simple spell as he did so. Time itself seemed to obey, freezing the noise, and allowing Sora to strike the frogs several times. The spell faded, and each frog fell back before collapsing, as if struck by a dozen blows simultaneously.

"Alright, let me through," he told the reaper.

"Mission accomplished. Finally, now I can go get a burger," the reaper said, chuckling. He walked off in the opposite direction.

Sora stepped onto Dogenzaka, and ran towards Kairi, Neku, and Shiki. The three of them looked shocked, though. Something was wrong. As Sora approached, he realized the store was boarded up.

* * * * * * * * * *

"_Makoto!" the girl screamed, as a frog dove at the boy. He tossed his only weapon, a ladle, and it slammed into the frog. Barely harming it. He wasn't a fighter, and it showed. They fought for a few moments later._

_The girl they were defending ran towards him. He was reaching for her. As he did so, a frog leapt forward, killing both Makoto and the frantic girl._

* * * * * * * * * *

Sora gasped. Now he remembered him. First in front of the restaurant, greeting guests. Then, battling the noise.

And being erased.

"Makoto is... dead?" whispered Shiki.

Neku winced. "That's what it looks like. Sign says there was an accident... wait a moment! This is the same day Sora..." he said, trailing off.

Shiki continued to read the sign. "Three people were killed here, according to this."

Neku groaned. "Well, if they're closed, now what?"

"Why don't we try that burger restaurant in front of Hachiko?" suggested Shiki. Kairi looked worried.

"Would Sora be able to find us?" she asked.

"He's got to be around here, right?" said Neku. Shiki nodded. Kairi still looked unsure.

Sora clenched his teeth. He hated not being able to talk to her, despite standing less than five feet away. Suddenly, he noticed something strange. The ground seemed to shake a bit. Neku, Shiki, and Kairi continued talking as if nothing was wrong. Suddenly, he realized what was going on. He dove to left, just as a massive shark noise emerged from the road, snapping its powerful jaws where he stood a moment before.

Sora called the Oblivion keyblade to his hand, and watched carefully as the shark noise descended back into the road. He waited patiently until the ripples appeared once more beneath him, and dived aside at the last second. The shark leapt into the air, only to be met by a powerful bolt of lightning. The shark recoiled from the attack, but before it could dive again, Sora was on it. He slapped the blade against the shark's fin, preventing its escape, then lunged, knocking the noise back. Finally, he pivoted and swiped his keyblade horizontally. The shark flopped on the road for a moment, before dissipating.

"Not bad. Think you can do it again?" Sora turned and saw a figure standing on the roof. His wild orange hair flew wildly, clashing with his black skeleton parka. In his right hand, he held a small object of some sort... a lollipop?

The reaper thrust his left hand forward, spawning another shark noise, which dove into the ground eagerly.

"That the best you can do?" Sora taunted, as he deftly dodged the sharks lunge. "Predictable," he laughed, as he began to stab forward. But even before the shark dove into the ground, the ripples rose again. He lunged to the side, barely avoiding a second of the beasts. A woman's shrill laughter turned him around. A second reaper stood nearby, hair dyed pink, and wearing a dark gloved sweatshirt over a white corset, and a black pair of shorts.

"Giving up already?" she shot back.

As Sora was distracted, both sharks took the chance to lunge at the keyblade master. With incredible reflexes, Sora spun, smashing one shark on the snout, and lodging Oblivion into the other sharks mouth. With both beasts temporarily stalled, Sora pointed his keyblade at the first, and released a powerful ice spell, incasing it in ice. As the second shark attempted to dive, a magnet spell brought it soaring back into the air. Sora jumped, and using his momentum, landed a series of powerful aerial strikes on it. When Sora landed, both sharks disappeared.

"Congratulations," called the orange-haired reaper, jumping down. He seemed amused more than anything. "Impressive, too. Who would've thought you could fight so well alone."

The other reaper leapt down as well. "What are you doing Kariya!?"

"Hey, he won, he deserves a reward," said Kariya.

"Reward?" asked Sora suspiciously.

"You look like you were trying to talk to the humans," Kariya said. "Haven't you figured out how to imprint yet?"

"Kariya!" the pink haired woman screamed, frustrated. "We're not done testing him yet!"

"Oh all right," Kariya said, holding his hands up. "One more round then."

"Bring it!" challenged Sora, bending his knees and holding his keyblade in his typical battle stance.

Suddenly, another reaper appeared. "Koki Kariya," he called. Kariya turned to face the newcomer. "The Composer would like to see you." Kariya seemed surprise for a moment.

"Oh well. Alright then, Uzuki. One more bout. If he wins, you'll teach him, and buy me a bowl of Ramen later, alright?"

"Ugh," said Uzuki, looking at her lazy partner. "Fine." With that Kariya disappeared. "Alright then, little brat. See if you can take... this!" She gestured again, a pin in her hand glowing. Suddenly, a massive dragon formed in front of Sora. It's entire body seemed to be coated with metal, and its wings and claws were all razor sharp. The beast roared and started forward.

But Sora, who had faced a thousand heartless head-on, who battled both the heartless and nobody of the traitor Xehanort, and the victor of the Hades Cup, wasn't intimidated the least. He met the dragon with searing blasts of flame. Unscathed, the dragon swiped at Sora with his tail, which Sora easily dodged. He then rolled forward, swinging wildly with his keyblade, scoring one, two, three hits. He finished the impressive combo with a downwards stab, creating a burst of white light that stunned the behemoth.

"So zetta slow," came a voice from behind. Sora turned, and to his displeasure, noted his partner sitting casually on a truck. "Out of the way, Spikes," he sneered. Sora ignored him, and turned back in time to block a pair of lighting fast claw swipes. Then he noticed a shadow growing beneath his feet.

"CRUNCH!"

Sora dove out of the way, just as eight cars, eleven trash cans, a piece of the nearest building, a few broken window frames, and a broken bicycle dropped down, crushing the drake. The noise shook for a moment, then faded away.

"You!" Uzuki roared, recognizing her old officer.

"I'll add it to the heap," Sho said calmly, jumping down. He glanced at Uzuki. "Hahahah... you're outta your vector!" he shouted cheerfully.

"Whoa, stop!" Sora interrupted. "I thought you couldn't attack us?" he questioned the pink-haired reaper. Before she could say anything though, Sho cut in.

"She can... if I attack her," Sho grinned. Uzuki tried to hold her fierce countenance, but it faltered, and she stepped back.

"Sho, cut it out!" said Sora. "Uzuki, was it? We won. That means _you_ need to tell us about this imprinting stuff."

"You're quite useless, aren't you?" she said with a nervous chuckle, still eyeing Sho carefully. As much as she hated him, she saw how fast the drake was crushed... and remembered clearly the time he went maverick and set noise on all the other reapers. If he got the first strike, well, it would probably end with the first strike too. "Alright, fine," she said, as Sora's eyes flashed. "Use your player pin to look into their mind. Once you do that, you can make them think of stuff. Bye." She said this all really fast, before sinking into the ground.

Unfortunately, Sho was faster. "So zetta slow," he complained, as he fired off a stream of magical fire. Uzuki finished sinking into the ground, just as her wings were incinerated. "Don't get yourself killed, Spikes!" With that, Sho left as well. Sora ignored him, turning to Kairi, Neku, and Shiki instead, who were, as of yet, unaware of the battle that occurred right behind them.

"So what are we going to do?" asked Shiki.

Kairi looked around, left to right, looking straight at Sora a few times even. "I sure wish Sora could talk to us..."

Sora fingered the pin. Look into her mind, and add something, huh? Sounded easy. But, would Kairi mind? Sora imagined what she would do to him if she found out. It was not a pretty picture.

Kairi looked down sadly. "Great. Now what?"

"We could just go and hope he follows," said Neku.

Sora frowned. Either she'd be worried, or she'd be angry. With a sigh, he reached for his player pin again.

_Where are you, Sora? You promised..."_

Now what? Something to add... his name wouldn't do much, she was already thinking about him. What should he imprint... imprint? Maybe Shiki and Neku knew about it... if Kairi asked, then they'd know he was there, right? He concentrated on the word imprint.

_Imprint... Imprint? What's that?_

Okay, now... how about Neku?

_Neku... he knows a lot..._

"Yes, now ask him Kai... c'mon," pleaded Sora. He imprinted one more word...

_Question..._

"Question..." she muttered aloud. Neku and Shiki heard though. "Yea, Kairi?" asked Neku.

"Oh. Umm... I was just wondering... what does... imprint... mean?" she asked. "I don't know why, I just thought of that word all of a sudden..."

Neku glanced at Shiki, and they both smiled. "Good idea, Sora!" Neku said out loud. Kairi looked at him, startled. "Just keep following us, alright? We're going to the burger store near the Hachiko. You know, the statute west of the Scramble Crossing?"

"That dog as a name?" Sora asked, bewildered. Nonetheless, he was glad it worked, and followed them. Fifteen minutes later, they reached the restaurant Shiki had mentioned.

Kairi sighed with relief as Sora stepped into the store, appearing again. "Hey Sora," she said, smiling. Sora smiled back, albeit a little nervously.

"C'mon, Sora, Kairi," Shiki waved at them from a table. The two of them sat down, soon joined by Neku who brought a tray laden with food.

"So... what is imprint?" asked Kairi, curiously.

"Well... Kai, we players... can sort of read people's minds." No explosion. Yet. "So umm... once we do, we can sort of make them think of something."

"Uh-huh. So Sora probably made you think of it. Clever," complimented Shiki.

"Wait... does that mean you were reading my mind?" asked Kairi.

Oops.

"Yea... uhh... I kind of had to," Sora said weakly, bracing himself for an explosion. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. When he finally mustered the courage to open his eyes, he noticed all three of them were trying hard not to laugh. His incredulous look proved too much for them, though.

"Sorry, Sora," Kairi said, still laughing. "You just looked so scared, it was funny. Besides, Roxas barges into my mind all the time, remember?" Then she narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't you dare start acting like him, though," she warned.

Sora nodded. "Alright," he said meekly. Suddenly, he thought of something. "Hey Neku, why is it I never really... go to sleep? I just sort of wake up all of a sudden back at the scramble."

Neku shrugged. "It's normal. Whoever's in charge decides when the day ends. It usually ends a little after the day's missions are over."

Sora nodded. "I'd better go outside then. I guess it'll end soon enough."

"Good idea," said Shiki. "I don't know what will happen if your inside when it's over."

Sora stood up. "I'll see you guys again as soon as I can, okay?" he said, flashing them a goofy smile.

"Oh wait, Sora!" said Kairi. "I almost forgot... Joshua told me to give this to you," she said, handing him a pin with an emblem of a crown.

"Thanks... who is Joshua, anyways?" Sora asked, suddenly realizing that he had never been told exactly who it was. Besides from being Neku's murderer and partner.

"Long story, don't worry about it," said Neku.

"Oh right!" said Shiki suddenly. She reached into her pocket, and brought out a small silver bell, marked by the white skull symbol. "I borrowed this from my friend Mina... I was going to return it to her tomorrow. Why don't you wear it for now, Kairi? We can buy you one of your own tomorrow."

"Thanks... but what is it?" asked Kairi, looking at the small bell. It was quite delicate, and made a light ringing sound.

"It's a reaper's knell!" said Shiki excitedly. "Players and reapers can make it move. Just wear it on your wrist. Sora, if you ever see us and want to talk, just reach over and shake it, alright?"

Sora nodded. Mina... where had he heard that name before? Oh well.

"Thanks for everything, guys," he said with a smile.

"Sora," Kairi started. He turned to her. "Be careful, alright?" she said. Sora nodded and stepped out of the store.

"I really ought to look for Sho," he said to himself. "I'd rather not see him... but I guess it would be safer for everyone." Just as he was ready to start off though, the world faded to black again.


	6. Chapter 5: Of Ramen and Slammers

**Chapter 5: Day Three, Of Ramen and Slammers**

It sounded like a cannon going off. But who would fire off a cannon at this ungodly hour?

Kairi blearily opened her eyes. She was in the Misaki household. On the couch, to be specific, as Roxas had volunteered to sleep on the floor. Speaking of Roxas, the teen was sprawled on the floor, blanket kicked aside, snoring softly. Kairi sighed. He was such a deep sleeper, but she couldn't really blame him. He _was_ Sora's nobody after all.

Another loud slamming sound caused Kairi to flinch. It was still dark outside. Who would be knocking at this hour? She looked to the corner of the room, where an ornate grandfather clock stood. It read 5:45 AM.

Shiki and Kairi had returned to Shiki's home after leaving the restaurant. Roxas hadn't arrived until several hours later, with his new best friend, Beat. The two had spent all morning at the park, skateboarding. Then, Beat had taken it upon himself to teach Roxas the art of Shibuya's favorite game: Tin Pin.

All in all, disappointed as he was to miss Sora entirely, Roxas had quite an enjoyable day.

Another knock roused Kairi from her contemplations. She staggered to the door, sincerely hoping Mr. and Mrs. Misaki were deep sleepers, like a certain Nobody she nearly tripped over. She unlocked the door and opened it, to find none other than...

"Good morning, yo!" said Beat cheerfully.

Kairi stifled a yawn. "Beat?" she said sleepily.

"Who is it?" came Shiki's voice from upstairs.

"It's me, yo!" said Beat, before Kairi could say anything. "Roxas awake yet?"

Kairi glared at him. "At 5:45 in the morning?" she asked sarcastically. Shiki joined her at the door.

"Beat? Why are you here...?"

"Well, I told him you wouldn't all be awake yet, but here he is anyways," said Rhyme, finally catching up to her brother. "Beat-"

"Yo, I know alright? Paperwork is a village, you told me already!"

"Patience is a virtue," Rhyme corrected sternly.

"Never mind that yo, we're going to be late!"

"What are you doing here, Beat?" asked Shiki angrily. "Roxas is still asleep."

"He told me to, yo! We're going down to Molco! They're slamming today!"

Kairi groaned. There it was again. The silly Tin Pin game Roxas had tried to teach her last night. To be honest, it was more of Roxas wiping the floor with her, with Naminé complaining. Interestingly enough, when Naminé finally quieted, Roxas went on a long losing streak, before Kairi was finally bored out of her mind. "Roxas, there's someone here to see you," she said, stepping towards the blonde haired Nobody. "Roxas?"

One cup of ice cold water later, Roxas's bright blue eyes flew open. "What was that for?" he muttered, shaking water out of his hair and climbing to his feet, as Beat laughed loudly.

"Quiet, you," said Kairi, throwing a second cup of water on Beat.

"That's cold yo!" Beat protested loudly, dripping wet. Shiki, Rhyme, and Kairi all shared a laugh, as Roxas and Beat took turns (quietly) showering and changing. Meanwhile, Shiki quickly brewed a pot of warm fruit tea. Beat joined them shortly after, and started gleefully describing the competition to take place, blissfully unaware that no one was listening.

"Roxas, check this out!" said Beat cheerfully, when Roxas finally returned, dressed in his customary white jacket and tanned slacks. Beat went over to the door where he had left a skateboard, and handed it for Roxas. "For you, man!" he said, grinning. "They gave me 2 on accident, yo!"

"It was a buy one get one free sale," said Rhyme, exasperated. "It wasn't an accident."

"Thanks," said Roxas, examining the skateboard. "Hey... this looks like the graffiti near the backstreets of Shibuya," said Roxas, commenting on the design. "It's pretty cool."

"It's CAT's work!" said Beat, proudly.

"CAT?"

"Best artist in Shibuya, yo!" Beat said grandly.

"It's nice," said Roxas, setting the skateboard back down, as Shiki handed him a cup of tea. He turned and noticed the clock.

"6:15!?" he yelped. "Why are you here now!?" he said, finally noticing the early hour.

"We gotta get in line, yo! It's gonna be crowded!"

"Alright well, we're off then," said Roxas with a sigh.

"Kairi, Shiki, Rhyme, come on!" said Beat, heading out the door.

"No thanks," said Kairi, as she finished her tea.

Shiki looked at Rhyme. "Why don't you stay here with us for a bit, Rhyme?"

Rhyme nodded gratefully. "Don't get in too much trouble Beat!" she called to her older brother, who was on his way out with Roxas. The two of them soon set off on identical skateboards.

Shiki yawned. "Kairi, I promised Neku I'd go watch. Why don't you come along? It's more fun to watch than play," she promised with a wink. "Even if Naminé is sabotaging Roxas."

"Does that mall have a reaper decal?" she asked. Shiki smiled knowingly.

"I'm pretty sure it does," she said. "Neku said he played Tin Pin when he was trapped in the game."

Kairi nodded. "Alright then."

* * * * * * * * * *

The Scramble... again? These reapers weren't very creative. Sora yawned and got to his feet, and noticed Sho standing nearby right away.

"So zetta slow," Sho groaned, clenching his phone tightly in his hand. He turned when he noticed Sora was awake. "Morning, radian."

"What does that mean anyways?" Sora grumbled. "So zetta slow?"

"Do the math," said Sho simply. Suddenly, his phone beeped, followed a moment later by a sharp pain. "120:00."

"Bring ramen to the stage at A-East within two hours," read Sho.

"That's easy enough," said Sora. "There's a ramen store down there, right?" he said, pointing in the direction where he had lunch with Kairi on their first day. Sho shrugged, and the two set off.

To be blocked by an invisible wall. A reaper wearing a black hoodie stood at the side, fiddling with a small, multi-colored cube, his wings twitching menacingly.

"Hey, let us past!" demanded Sora. The reaper looked up. With a flick of his wrist, the cube soared through the air. Sora reached up and caught it. Each side was made of 9 smaller squares. Each square was covered with a small sticker, either green, blue, orange, red, yellow, or white.

"Solve this then," said the reaper with a sneer.

"So zetta easy," said Sho, reaching for the cube.

"Hey! No way! I can solve it!" said Sora holding it away. "What do you do?" he demanded of the reaper.

"You can twist it, see?" said the reaper, demonstrating on another cube he pulled from his pocket. "Change it so every side is all of one color."

"Sounds easy," said Sora. He rotated, twisted, and spun it. A minute later, one side was all blue. "See? Can't be too hard, only 5 to go!" Sho groaned.

"So zetta slow..." he muttered, predictably, as he watched Sora fail miserably. Five minutes later, Sora gave up, and tossed the cube to Sho.

"You do it then," said Sora, annoyed, and convinced it was impossible. He couldn't even get half of another side done, without ruining the first.

Sho held it up for a moment. Then, with one hand, he deftly spun the cube, seemingly at random. The sides spun so fast Sora could hardly tell what he was doing. In less than 5 seconds, the cube was solved, and flying back through the air, into the stunned reaper's hands. Speechless, the reaper removed the barrier, and examined the cube.

They found the Ramen store shortly after, and found a large sign. "Ramen Cup..." Sora read. "Hosted by Ramen Don's very own Ken Doi, the winner will receive a special edition ramen pin."

He turned and looked at Sho. "Hey Sho, do you think the reapers mean this ramen pin?"

Sho read the sign, and shrugged. "Probably. Just normal ramen seems too zetta easy."

"It says the tournament is at Molco... do you know where Molco is?"

* * * * * * * * * *

"Beat! Roxas!" Shiki called, waving to the pair. They were at the very front of the line, along with a boy with brown hair and a plain white T-shirt. There was only slightly more than a dozen competitors present.

"Yo! Rhyme, Shiki, Kairi!" Beat waved to the three girls.

"Who's this?" asked Shiki, looking at the only person ahead of Roxas and Beat in the line.

"Yammer," the boy introduced himself. "I was just showing Roxas and Beat my new pins."

Kairi rolled her eyes. "What's the difference?" she asked.

Yammer looked at her, shocked. "What do you mean what's the difference!? These custom pins make all the difference!"

"We'll see," said Roxas with a confident grin, handing the pins back.

A middle aged business man opened the door, and stepped outside. "Welcome, all participants of the Ramen Cup!" he said. "Please enter in an orderly fashion. You can pay for your tickets at the front counter. Don't worry, everyone will get to participate, so there's no need to push or shove!"

The line filed inside slowly. Suddenly, an eerie ringing sound was heard.

"What was that?" asked Rhyme, the only one asides from Kairi who heard it. Kairi looked around for a moment, then remembered. She looked down at her wrist, and surely enough, the reaper's knell was ringing from side to side.

Kairi smiled. "Sora?" she asked. The bell continued to ring.

Standing besides her, invisible, Sora let out a laugh, relieved. "It worked," he said happily, and slipped past the line, stepping into the store. Once inside, he waved at Shiki, who noticed him immediately.

"Kairi! He's inside!" Shiki said, pointing at Sora excitedly. The three girls waited impatiently until the competitors all entered, before joining Sora and Sho inside.

"The little bell worked," Sora said unnecessarily, with a smile.

"What are you two doing here?" asked Shiki.

"Spikes, you can socialize later. We've got an matrix to invert!" said Sho, forcefully leading Sora to the counter. The two purchased their tickets. Sho headed off, mixing with the crowds, while Sora broke off and found an open table with Kairi, Shiki, and Rhyme.

"I think we need to win that ramen pin for today's mission," said Sora.

"They're running out of ideas, huh?" said Neku, dropping into the fifth of the six seats.

"Neku! Where did you come from?" asked Shiki, surprised.

"Wildkat," he said nonchalantly. "My parents and I got into another fight... Mr. H let me stay over at his café, though."

Kairi looked at him curiously. "Why don't you get along with your parents?"

Suddenly, an unfamiliar person walked up. He seemed to be about the same age as Rhyme, and had short black hair. He wore a red bandana and a yellow vest. "Here's Shuto Daaaaaaaan!" he shouted loudly, clapping Neku on the shoulder.

"Hey, shooter," said Neku, not surprised the least that the Tin Pin fanatic was present, and glad for the distraction.

Shuto glanced at Sora. "Hey... aren't you... a player?" he asked.

Sora nodded, confused, as the rest stiffened. "How do you know about that business?" asked Neku.

"Why do you think?" said Shuto brightly. "I'm a player, too!" he announced, holding out a player pin.

"You're dead?" asked Shiki, shocked. She clapped a hand over her own mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry... I shouldn't have..." Shuto shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, this isn't that bad!" he said brightly. "These missions are easy! Gotta go, I think my round's starting!" shouted Shuto, taking off.

"Hey, Neku?" asked Sora. "How do you play Tin Pin?" It had finally occurred to him, he had no idea how to play.

"Well, if you ask your Nobody, I'm sure he'd be glad to teach you," said Kairi sarcastically. "He made me play with him all evening," she explained with a giggle.

Suddenly, Sora heard his name over the megaphone. "Great. Now what?" he wondered, standing up.

"Sora, here, use these," said Neku, handing a small box of pins.

"What's this?" asked Sora.

"You need these to play, of course." Neku smiled deviously. "The paper on top is the instructions Shuto gave me when I started playing." He shrugged. "Don't worry about it, it's easy. You'll figure it out quick."

"Thanks," said Sora, examining the pins while running towards the game table.

"You're Sora?" the referee asked. Sora nodded. "Alright, place your pins on the rack," he said, indicating a small wooden rack at the edge of the table. Sora did as he was told, quickly loading six of Neku's pins onto it.

"Slam on!" the Referee shouted, and one of Sora's pins was suddenly shot onto the playing table. Three pins appeared, one for each opponent. Almost immediately, spikes emerged from the side of one pin, and a small hammer emerged from another. The pins ricocheted back and forth.

Before Sora could figure out how to move his own pin, two of his opponent's slammed their pins into each other, and both flew out. His third opponent launched his pin towards Sora's Lightning Rook pin, but missed, sliding out of the ring. More pins dropped in, as Sora finally noticed the movement pad and the buttons placed in the wooden frame of the field.

Sora slid his finger quickly along the pad, and his pin slid forward, bumping lightly into one of the other pins. Before his opponent could react, he slammed one of the buttons. A hammer emerged from the lightning rook, and spun incredibly quickly.

Unfortunately, the other pin was too close, and the hammer missed. The pin flipped up into the air, crashing down on Sora's. Then it slid back, then forwards. Again, it missed and slid out of the ring. Across the table, Sora's opponent cursed.

It was all over in under a minute. Sora had finally found out how to move his pin, but it was pointless, seeing as his opponent's were, amazingly, worse than he was. He had not lost a single pin.

"Well... that was... easy," he commented, confused. "And the most pointless game I've ever played," he mumbled.

He gathered his pins and walked back to where the others were waiting. Except a familiar, blonde Nobody blocked his path.

"Sora!" Roxas exclaimed. "How've you been!?" The Nobody stepped forward and gave his other a high five.

"Hey, Roxas!" Sora answered cheerfully.

The two walked back to the table together.

"How'd it go?" asked Neku.

"Terrible," Sora groaned. He lifted the piece of paper from the box of pins, and took one look, and gasped.

The entire paper was covered in circles, arrows, and stars. There were a few words written, although the writer's handwriting was inscrutable. Other than "WIN" of course. "These are instructions?" he said, looking at Neku, astonished, who broke out laughing.

Kairi took the paper from Sora, and after a glance, broke out laughing too, handing it to Roxas.

"Helpful," said Roxas, grinning.

"So did you win or not?" asked Shiki, worried. Of all of those present, it seemed only she remembered Sora's mission.

"Yea... but only because the others were even worse than me," said Sora.

"Well, maybe you'll keep getting lucky," said Kairi, now looking a bit worried too. "You really need to win this, don't you?"

"I do?" asked Sora. Then he remembered his mission. "Oh. Right. Fantastic," he muttered.

"Hate to break it to you, Sora, but this next round won't be easy," said Roxas, checking the bracket. He looked up with a nervous smile. "Your next opponent actually knows how to play."

Sora groaned. "Well, I sure hope Sho does better than me then," he said grimly.

"Who's Sora's opponent?" asked Shiki curiously.

Roxas held up the bracket for everyone to see. "Me."

* * * * * * * * * *

The two boys stepped up to the game table.

"Ready, Sora?" asked Roxas, loading a handful of pins.

Sora grabbed another handful of pins and loaded them in as well. "You're going down, Roxas."

"Sora!" the two boys turned and saw Kairi, waving. "Don't worry Sora! We're _all_ rooting for you!"

"Oh, thanks!" shouted Roxas sarcastically.

"Hey, you're not the one who's life is on the line," reminded Sora. Roxas laughed.

"Don't worry Sora, if I win, you can have the pin."

"You'll win Sora!" shouted Kairi one more time. Then, seemingly to herself, she whispered, "Right... Naminé?"

* * * * * * * * * *

"SLAM. ON!"

Sora watched as a golden, heavy pin dropped in from his side. Roxas's was a blue and red pin with the letter "O" depicted. Before Sora could move his pin, Roxas's pin slid straight forward, slamming his to the side with a loud clanging sound. Fortunately, heavy as it was, Sora's pin managed to stay in the arena. He quickly slid his pin back to the center.

Roxas smiled. This would be an easy win. A hammer extended from his pin, barely missing Sora's.

_"Hey, Roxas... guess who?"_

Roxas's eyes widened. He remembered clearly Naminé's antics from the night before. "No fair!" he cried. His finger twitched, and his pin slid dangerously close to the edge. Sora quickly slid his pin across, pushing it over. "Not again!" Roxas protested.

"Something wrong, Roxas?" asked Sora, as Roxas continued to slip up, his pins never going the way he wanted them to. He slammed his pin forward, finishing off another of Roxas's pins. Furiously, Roxas tossed another pin in, and immediately went for the spikes.

_"C'mon Roxas, show me what the other one does!"_

"No!" said Roxas angrily.

_"Please?"_

To Roxas's credit, he did finish off another of Sora's pins, but not long before Naminé sent two of his pins jumping off the table.

"We have a winner!" the referee cheered, and the two stepped away from the play table.

"Roxas, what went wrong there?" asked Sora, still gloating.

"Let's just say, now I know what it felt like when I startled you for fun when you went surfing that one day."

Sora contemplated that for a moment. "Thanks, Naminé!" he said cheerfully.

"N-Factorial!" came a cry from behind them. The two boys turned, to see Shuto playing against Sho. With a precise twirling motion, Sho sent his player pin spinning around the other. Shuto went for the hammer. "So zetta slow," Sho taunted, withdrawing. Moving in a perfect arc, his pin looped behind the hammer and sent the pin out of the ring. Apparently, that was the last shot of the match. Shuto rose, stunned.

"Do the math," concluded Sho, retrieving his pins.

The announcer looked at the bracket. "Amazing! This tournament's finale will be played between two new faces, Sho Minamimoto, and Sora!" he shouted out.

Sora sat down on the seat Shuto had just vacated.

"Congratulations, you two! Now, slam on!" said the announcer.

"Hey Spikes."

"Yea?" asked Sora, dodging aside.

"How fast do you think I'm going to beat you?"

Sora didn't bother responding, instead sliding his pin out of reach of Sho's hammer.

"299,792,458 m/s!" Sho shouted gleefully. Suddenly his pin banked, came to a stop, and shot straight at Sora's. Sora tried to push his pin aside once more, but a massive hammer extended, and smashed the pin off. The moment Sora's next pin hit the table, Sho's did a small flip and crashed down on Sora's new pin. A single circle and Sora's second pin flew off as well, shortly followed by his third, fourth, fifth, and sixth pins.

"A round of applause for Mr. Minamimoto, champion of the first Ramen Cup!" the announcer said, handing a trophy, a pin, and a card to Sho.

"Well, at least you tried," said Kairi. "Doesn't matter right?"

"Yea, I guess," said Sora. "At least one of us won."

"Sora. You and I are playing again," said Roxas dangerously. Kairi stuck her tongue out at him.

"Say, has anyone seen Beat?" asked Shiki, who had finally found them along with Neku and Rhyme.

Rhyme giggled and pointed towards the back of the room, where Beat was in the middle of his fifth bowl of curry. "I don't think he knows it's over already."

"And you call me a lazy bum," Sora whined. "Well, we've got to go. We only have 25 minutes left."

He gave Kairi a quick hug. "Don't worry Kai, I'll be out of here soon."

"Zetta slow!" roared Sho from the entrance. "C'mon, Spikes! Let's get going!"

Kairi looked like she was going to say something. Then she shook her head. "Good luck, Sora," she said simply, as Sora rushed out of the mall.

In front of Molco rested a massive pile of garbage, and at the very bottom was the brand new Ramen Cup.

"Sho? Did you mean to leave that?" asked Sora.

"The world is garbage," Sho said. Then he took off.

Sora carefully removed the trophy from the pile. "Well, maybe I'll give it to Roxas," he said to himself, stowing it in his travel pack. With that, he sprinted off, trying to keep up with his partner."

* * * * * * * * * *

"This is it... right?" asked Sora, as they found a large building on A-East.

"You're a player too?" Shuto was standing in front of the building. "That's a relief!" he said. "I thought we were goners for sure!"

"You zetta son of digits," Sho said scathingly. The three headed into the building. It was a large room, with a stage up front, and several instruments strewn across the stage. Behind it was a sign, resting on a small tray, and a young girl stood in front of it.

"Where were you, Shuto!?" she demanded. "I had to finish the mission without you!" There was a bowl of ramen on the tray. "But it's not working," she said nervously, looking down at the timer on her hand. "18 minutes..."

"Kay, the mission meant to get the Ramen pin!" he said loudly. "He's got it right there!" he said, pointing at Sho, who moved closer and read the sign.

"Players, place ramen here," he read. He flipped the pin, caught it, and placed it besides the bowl of ramen.

"Oh c'mon, you actually solved that!?" came a shout of protest. Uzuki, the pink haired reaper, stepped out from her hiding place behind the curtains.

"You factoring yoctogram, that wasn't hard at all!" said Sho.

"Uhh, Sho, the timer's still going," said Sora, looking down at his palm.

All four of the players looked at their hands, watching the timer count down.

"Why isn't it working?" muttered Sora.

Uzuki laughed. "No idea, but I wouldn't tell you if I knew! The new Game Master must be a genius!"

Even as the words left her mouth, the wires holding the tray lifted it up towards the cat walk. Sora looked up, and saw a reaper, cranking the tray up.

"Hey! Stop!" Shuto protested.

"Relax kiddo, I ain't a harrier... anymore, at least."

"Kariya!?" cried Uzuki, stunned.

"Uh huh. Composer made me GM for this week... or what's left of it, anyways. Hmm, whoever ordered this ramen has good taste. Mission complete."

As he said the words, the lights above the stage came on, revealing the orange-haired reaper with the skeleton parka, lollipop in one hand, and chopsticks in the other. Simultaneously, the timers disappeared.

Sho burst out laughing. "You? Game Master? Hahahah... this is gonna be an easy week, I can tell already!"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," remarked Kariya. "What's this?" he said, examining the ramen pin. "Oh well, I don't need it." He tossed it to the floor. "Good job all of you. Mission complete. Good night."

"Wait... you wanted an actual bowl of ramen? Not the pin?" asked Sora, now wearing the same shocked, horrified expression as Uzuki.

"Yep. Oh, and I thought you should know. The other pairs bit off more than they could chew, and wound up fighting about a billion noise. You're the only four left. And really now, I said good night." Kariya waved his hand, and the world went dark once more.


	7. Chapter 6: Game within the Game

**Chapter 6: Day Four, Game within the Game**

To his surprise, Sora awoke, not at the Scramble Crossing, but on Dogenzaka, in front of the closed down Shadow Ramen. He turned and watched Sho pull out his cell phone. "So zetta slow?" Sora muttered. Sho gave him a murderous look.

Sora leaned against the street pole, bored. "Strange place to wake up. And no mail yet, either."

"Zetta slow!" Sho griped, staring at the phone. "Zetta slow!!!"

Sho had shouted himself hoarse before the cell phone finally beeped. "Finally!" He took one look at the phone, and swore loudly. "Factoring zetta son of digits!" Sora ran over, and Sho tossed the phone to him.

"Introduce a new sport to Shibuya. The now-closed Shadow Ramen restaurant is yours. Good luck. You have fifteen hours. Oh, and sorry for the late mail. Fail and I'll erase you, if I feel like it. Koki Kariya."

Sora re-read the entire mail again, sure it was a prank. Then he flinched, as a timer appeared on his palm once more.

_15:00:00_

"Is this a joke!?" said Sora angrily. "A new sport? In fifteen hours? When no one in the city can see us!?"

"Looks like," said Sho.

"Hey look, it's Shuto and Kay!" said Sora, pointing further down the street. Sure enough, the other remaining team was further down the street. Kay noticed, and led Shuto over.

"Ugh, can you believe this mission?" asked Kay angrily.

"Does the GM has something against Tin Pin?" asked Shuto worriedly.

"Nah. He's zetta lazy, he just wants something to watch near the ramen store," guessed Sho, gesturing towards Ken Doi, who was standing in front of Ramen Don, greeting guests.

"Well, we better get started," said Sora. "Any ideas?"

"Tin Pin Mk II?" suggested Shuto.

"Rubik's Revenge," offered Sho.

"Rubik's?" Sora and Kay asked together. In answer, Sho reached deep into one of his pockets, and drew out a cube. It was similar to the puzzle the Reaper had the other day, but it was five by five, with twenty five stickers on each side.

"No," said Sora firmly. "I think we're going to need some help…"

"Help? We're the only four left, remember?" said Kay.

"Well, look who's here," said Sho. Neku walked right between the for of them, without noticing.

Sora immediately grabbed his player's pin.

_I wonder what I should do today. Summer break is going to end soon…_

Sora grinned. He focused on the image of a black-haired girl with glasses and a stuffed animal. Hopefully, Neku would be able to help him find Roxas and Kairi.

_Shiki… maybe I ought to visit her and see if she's doing anything._

"C'mon," said Sora, following Neku, who turned and headed off towards Shiki's house.

They followed Neku for twenty minutes, until they reached the Misaki's home. Neku knocked on the door.

"Oh, hey Neku," said Shiki. "Come on in." Neku entered, unknowingly followed by the four players. Sora laughed when he saw Roxas, still sprawled out on the floor, asleep. He guessed Kairi had been sleeping on the couch, noticing a pillow and a pile of blankets there.

"What's up?" asked Shiki, once she closed the door.

"Not much. I was just wondering what you were up to."

"Oh. Eri came over. We were making a new outfit for Kairi," she said. "C'mon upstairs."

"You aren't going to redesign my outfit for me too… are you?" asked Neku nervously. Nevertheless, he followed Shiki up the stairs, Sora and the other players close behind.

Shiki's room looked a bit plain, although at the moment, it was covered in bits of fabric, patterns, and sewing kits. Kairi sat on the bed, watching another girl, whom Sora assumed to be Eri, draw on a clipboard. She had long, red hair and large brown eyes. She was wearing a brown hat, and a dark pink blouse. She also wore an incredibly short dark green skirt, with a pouch strapped to it. She had a box of colored pencils by her, and a stationary chest with various other writing utensils.

"Hey Shiki, what do you think of this?" asked Eri, holding it up. "Oh, hey Neku!" she said, noticing one of the five visitors, albeit, the only visible one.

"Hey Eri. I just dropped in to say hi," he said awkwardly. Sora looked at Neku curiously. It was almost as if there was something going on between Neku and this girl, Eri.

"I think it's great, Eri. What about you Kairi?" Shiki asked. Eri handed the clipboard to Kairi, who took a closer look. As she did so, Sora walked around the bed, reached over, and lightly shook the small bell on her wrist.

"I like it," she said, handing it back to Eri. "I don't know if the color really suits me though…" she said. Sora shook the bell again.

"What about this then?" asked Eri, altering it slightly. Sora grew frustrated. He grabbed the bell and shook it as hard as he could.

"Whoa, ouch!" said Kairi as the bell jerked to the right, tugging on her wrist. "Sora?"

"What's a Sora?" asked Eri curiously.

"N-Never mind," said Kairi, as Shiki gave her a warning look. Evidently, Eri didn't know about the reaper's game.

"Hey, I think the tea's done. Want to help me bring it up?" asked Shiki. Kairi immediately nodded and the two girls headed back downstairs. Sora and the others followed.

"What are you doing, Spikes? We've already wasted half an hour!" grumbled Sho.

"I'm trying to get her attention," explained Sora.

"I can see that! So zetta slow," he groaned. "C'mon you two," he said, gesturing to Shuto and Kay, who had remained silent thus far. "Let's head back to Shadow Ramen while Spikes here keeps wasting time." The two of them nodded, and walked through the door, but not before Kay wished him luck.

Sora turned and noticed that Kairi was holding her hand out, perfectly steady. "Sora? Are you there?" she asked again. He stepped over his still sleeping nobody, and tapped the bell. Relief washed over Kairi's face, and she smiled.

"Kairi, why don't you wake up Roxas? There's a fabric store in Molco. You can talk there, and when you're done, you can bring back the cloth we need." Kairi nodded.

A small bolt of lightning dropped onto Roxas, startling the Nobody. "Ouch!"

"Roxas, c'mon. Sora's here. We're going down to Molco," she said quickly, and followed Shiki back upstairs. Sora sighed. This could take a while.

Roxas staggered to his feet, and went into the first floor restroom to shower. He returned just as Kairi returned, with a small shopping list in one hand. "Sora? Are you still here?" she asked. Sora walked over and rang the bell again. "Good. C'mon Roxas," she said, and the three left, heading towards Molco.

* * * * * * * * * *

The three of them entered the building, and Sora became visible once more. "Everything okay, Sora?" asked Kairi.

"Not really," Sora confessed. "The mission for today is to introduce a new game to Shibuya and make it popular, all in fifteen hours. We get one building to help us. It's that closed down Shadow Ramen store…"

"Wait, you get to use that? But isn't the owner playing the game with you? What if he comes back?" asked Kairi.

Sora shook his head. "He won't. Everyone else is gone, there's only four of us left. I think I saw him erased on day one." Kairi seemed horrified. "And if we don't hurry up, we'll be erased too…"

Roxas laughed, and both Sora and Kairi turned to him angrily. "C'mon Sora, there's gotta be a bunch of things you could do."

"Oh yea?" snarled Sora. "Name three."

"Sure. Blitzball, Struggle, or a Skate Park," Roxas listed off.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Sho, Shuto, Kay!" Sora called, back on Dogenzaka. Roxas was with him, although the nobody couldn't see his other. Kairi promised to meet up with them later, and to send Neku as well, before heading back to Shiki's place, a large bag of various fabrics in tow.

"Hey Spikes!" called Shuto.

"Not you too," Sora groaned. "It's Sora, not Spikes."

"Is he helping us?" asked Kay, pointing towards Roxas.

"Yea, but he can't see us unless we go inside," explained Sora.

Before he could say another word, Sho turned towards the boarded up door. "Crunch!" he said, waving his hand. The wooden boards were ripped out of the door, and collapsed in a heap. The lock simply shattered.

Apparently, it must've looked funny, seeing a boarded up door fall apart for no reason, as Roxas jumped back about five feet and drew his keyblades. Sora grinned and stepped into the building, visible once more, and waved towards Roxas, who dismissed the weapons.

"Guys, this is Roxas," Sora introduced. "He's alive, and umm… a friend of mine."

"Sora said you guys needed some help," said Roxas.

"No kidding," Shuto groaned. "We don't even know what we're doing yet, and we only have thirteen hours left…"

"Well, I have an idea." He pulled out a notepad Kairi had lent him, and started explaining the game of Blitzball, one that Sora, Riku, Tidus, and Wakka had played frequently back on the Islands. The game was fairly simple. A large sphere of water was held in the air by a machine. A net was placed at either end. Players would swim through the sphere, trying to throw the blitzball into the other teams net.

"Roxas, I don't think we're going to be able to find the machine we'd need," said Sora, looking over the plans. "Do you really think we can get this all together in time?"

"I think so. You were helping Riku fix our machine back at the Islands, remember? I actually paid attention. I'm pretty sure I saw most of the parts available in a store at 104."

Shuto and Kay nodded. It wasn't a bad idea. Sho, of course, insisted that Rubik's Revenge would've worked better, but Sora crushed the plan, reminding him that he was the only person in Shibuya who could solve the infernal puzzle. They began to list out what they'd need to put together the field, the nets, and the stands, while Sora examined the plumbing. Neku then arrived, along with Beat and Rhyme, and the three volunteered to help as well. Pretty soon, they had an extensive list of materials for the field machinery, a holding and purifying tank for the water, and the various other pieces of equipment, and of course, the blitzball itself. Neku seemed to know most of the stores in Shibuya (he blamed Shiki), so he split the list into several smaller ones, and everyone set off.

Sora was the first to return, with three heavy bags of different hardware parts. Then, he noticed a major problem.

"Hey Sho, we've got a problem," he said, as the math fanatic stepped in, carrying a massive tank, and a bag of tools over his shoulder. "It'll take a day just to clear all this stuff out," Sora said, gesturing towards the tables, chairs, and cooking equipment. "We'll also need to take that wall out."

Sho frowned. He examined the wall carefully. "Force equals mass times acceleration, gravity equals G times M1 times M2, all over distance to the second power, supports…" he paused, looking around the room. "Good."

"… okay?" asked Sora. "What does that mean?"

"CRUNCH!"

The extending wall was blasted away, severed cleanly. Then, with a wave of his hand, everything in the room, including the parts they had just purchased, flew through the doorway, crashing in front of the building, almost flattening a passerby.

The next twenty minutes were spent rooting through the pile and retrieving the chairs, and tables which could be reused, as well as the parts they had purchased. Roxas returned next, with more tools, and painting materials.

"Whoa! What happened?" he asked, seeing the room a disaster.

"Well, Sho cleaned it out," said Sora, glaring at his partner, who smirked at the two of them. "That extra piece of wall is gone, by the way."

Roxas groaned. "Well, why don't you go get a few wooden boards, and some more paint? We can't leave a hole in the wall like that… where is Kairi? I've never, ever done any painting before."

"Neither has she," remarked Sora.

"Naminé has."

"Oh. Right." With that, Sora left, in search of more paint and wooden boards.

Beat, Rhyme, Neku, Kay, and Shuto then returned. Neku (who still refused to work with Sho) and Beat set to patching up the walls, although they decided to hold off on the paint for the time being. Shuto and Sho started installing the water tank and purifier, as well as some storage shelves, while Kay and Rhyme assembled the nets, and marked out the dimensions for the arena and stands. Roxas began assembling the unique Blitzball arena machine.

Kairi and Shiki dropped in soon after, Kairi wearing her new outfit. Her new shirt was a lot like Eri's, a sleeveless shirt made from two shades of red and black. Her new miniskirt was also black, and decorated with gold and red straps. She also wore a short, dark blue cape, reaching down to her hips.

"Nice outfit," commented Roxas. "It looks a lot like Sora's."

"What looks like me?" asked Sora, stepping in, carrying a can of paint and a stack of boards. "Oh hey Kairi. Hey! That outfit looks like mine!" he said.

"Well, we kind of based it off yours," said Shiki.

"Why don't I get a cape?" Sora complained.

"Not now, Sora," said Roxas. "How much time do we have left?"

Sora looked down. "Nine hours. Not good…"

"This place is a mess…" said Shiki, examining the room.

"Hey Shiki, can you give us a hand with the paint?" asked Neku. He had finished with repairing the hole and floor, evidently, and setting up partitions. Unfortunately, that's as far as his success went. He had a white streak along his hair, and Beat was cursing while fishing his beanie back out of the paint bucket.

"I'll help too," said Kairi quickly, running across the room to join Shiki.

_"Do you even know how to paint?"_

"No, but you do."

"Whatchu say?" asked Beat, plopping a wet beanie back onto his head, dying half of his hair white in the process.

"Oh, nothing," said Kairi. She could hear Naminé giggling in her mind.

_"I don't think white's really appropriate. Try that wide brush over there… do we have any blue paint?"_

"Do we have any blue?" she asked Neku. Neku passed over a blue container.

"Sorry, the paint kind of exploded, yo," apologized Beat.

"Did you open it with this?" asked Shiki, holding up a bent chisel.

"Nah, we used this thing instead, yo," explained Beat, holding up a very blue hammer.

* * * * * * * * * *

Seven hours later, the shoddily designed Blitzball arena was complete (to some extent). Some of the walls were still wet with paint, and to Shiki's displeasure, the recycled chairs didn't match very well. The walls were painted in various shades of blue, and new lighting was installed over the arena. Two stalls, made with wooden partitions, stood in the corner, although they were empty. With Naminé's help, "Shibuya Blitz" was painted over the original Shadow Ramen sign.

"That's the fastest I've ever worked," Sora groaned, leaning against the wall. "And don't you dare tell me that was zetta slow," he added, without looking towards his partner.

"Is that it, then?" asked Kay.

"Of course not, factoring hectopascal. We still gotta get people in here," said Sho.

Fortunately, that wasn't the case. "Oh hey everyone," came a cheery voice from the entrance. In stepped the Game Master. "Zing… this place is nice!" He laughed as nine pairs of startled eyes turned towards him.

"You know, you're more resourceful than I thought… finding help from the RG. Doesn't matter to me though." He waved his hand, and the timers faded. "At least I'll have something to watch during lunch," he said with a casual shrug. "This GM business is rough."

"Told you," said Sho with a grin. "Lollipop isn't taking this seriously at all… are you?"

"Not at all," Kariya confirmed.

An hour later, a crowd began to gather. No one was playing, but the strange technology certainly captivated an audience.

"Wish we could show this to Tidus and Wakka," said Sora.

"We could always build another one," suggested Roxas.

"No way. No. Just, no."

They sat, side by side, for a while longer, before the players simply disappeared, to awake in the scramble the following morning.


	8. Chapter 7: A Collision of Worlds

**Chapter 7: Day Five, A Collision of Worlds**

A bass reaper stood nervously in the mystical room. He wore the typical black hoodie and jeans, along with a red scarf across his mouth, slightly muffling his voice. In the corner of the room stood the Composer himself, who casually strolled across the room, towards the reaper. As he approached, his silhouette shifted. He became significantly shorter. Finally, the blinding light faded away, revealing a 15 year-old with silvery gray hair, matching his sharp eyes.

"Again?"

"Yes… there are more of them this time, too. They're in the RG, like last time. We tried to stop them like you instructed, but our psyches could not harm them. I'm sorry, sir. I'm afraid you may have to step in again."

Joshua sighed. It was a nuisance, more than anything. He dearly wished to know the truth of these strange foes. However, if he, the Composer, couldn't decipher these strange beings, who could?

"Please, inform Sanae Hanekoma of the Wildkat Café on Cat Street. I suppose you are right. I will have to deal with them myself."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

"Oh. And for now, tell the Game Master to cancel today's mission.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Cancel today's mission?"

"That's what the Composer said, sir."

"Very well. Thanks," nodded Kariya appreciatively.

As the bass reaper left the room, Uzuki spoke up. "You didn't even have a mission planned yet, did you?" she asked, already knowing the answer. And she didn't like it.

"Of course not."

* * * * * * * * * *

As Sora awoke, a familiar sight awaited him. Once again, they were at the Scramble Crossing. Interestingly enough, he was the first one awake this time.

"Hey, Sho!" he called. Sho's eyes blinked open in a flash, and he leapt to his feet.

"No need to shout, stupid zero," he muttered. He reached into his pocket for his cell phone. "No mail yet."

Sora wandered the Scramble, searching for their companions, who were nowhere in sight. "Strange… did they separate us?" he asked Sho.

"Who knows," said Sho, sounding like he could hardly care less. "Stupid Lollipop… so zetta slow…"

* * * * * * * * * *

"Are we going to go look for Sora again?" asked Shiki. Kairi sat across from her at the dining table. It was still fairly early, so of course, Roxas was still asleep, like usual.

Kairi nodded. "It's Day 5 now… right?" Shiki nodded. "So only three more days to go…"

"Are you leaving after?" asked Shiki.

Kairi pondered the question for a moment. "I think so," she said. "It doesn't look like there's a heartless problem here at all." She looked up and noted Shiki's worried expression. "Don't worry," Kairi said. "We could always come back to visit." Privately, though, she wasn't so sure. Could they really come back to the place Sora died once? Would they feel safe coming back?

"Besides," Kairi added. "We have school to go back to. We already missed the first few days. I doubt Sora minds though," she said, smiling as she recalled how eager Sora had been to embark on this mission.

"School starts for us in two weeks," said Shiki. "I didn't realize Neku and I went to the same school… it could be interesting," she said thoughtfully.

"How long have you known Neku?" Kairi asked.

"Not long. We were both in the game together. I was his partner for the first week. He didn't even use my name until like the last day though," she said, giggling a little as she remembered that moment. "He nicknamed me stalker since I kept following him around."

"Forget how Neku put up wish Joshua, how did you put up with him?" asked Kairi, incredulously. Neku struck her as being a bit cold… like Riku, sort of. But she couldn't imagine Riku calling her a stalker…

"Well, they took Neku's memory as his entry fee. We both figured something must've happened, but he didn't know what… I couldn't really blame him."

"Oh… is that why he kept playing?"

"Hmm?"

"Remember? When Sora asked him how he put up with being partnered with his killer? He said it was his entry fee that kept him going."

"Oh," said Shiki, blushing slightly. "No, he got his memory back after the first game. They took something else for his entry fee."

"What?" asked Kairi curiously.

"Umm… me."

"Really? Neku cared about you that much?"

Shiki nodded. "I guess."

"Even though he spent most of the only week you knew him calling you a stalker?"

"Uh-huh," said Shiki, smiling again.

"Wow…"

"Sora really cares about you too, though."

"Really?" asked Kairi, turning slightly pink as well.

"Remember what Joshua said?" Shiki reminded. "He said you were what mattered most to Sora…"

The two girls sat in silence for a while, until they heard a rustling sound.

"Ugh…" Roxas rolled over and tried to stand. "Ouch… "

"You alright, Roxas?"

"Yea. Just tired from yesterday… No! Naminé!" He suddenly protested. "I'm fine! You try moving all that machinery around all day, you'd be tired too! What!? That's not true!"

At the table, Kairi and Shiki laughed at the poor nobody.

The three of them set out an hour later, and headed to Hachiko, to see if Eri, Neku, Beat, Rhyme, or Sora were around. On the way, they stopped by Shiki's friend, Mina's, house, to return the reaper's knell. "Don't worry Kairi, we can buy another one on our way to Hachiko," Shiki reassured her. But it didn't really matter, since Mina wasn't home.

"Shiki?" asked Mina's mother, as she opened the door. At a glance, Kairi could already tell something was wrong. "Y-You… didn't hear?" she asked sadly, when Shiki showed her the reaper's knell. "Why don't you keep it?"

"What happened?" asked Shiki, worried.

The woman burst into tears. "Mina died in the car accident at Shadow Ramen six days ago," she managed between sobs.

"I'm… sorry," Shiki said, uneasily. After trying to comfort her a bit longer, the three left, giving her some time alone. When they were out of earshot, Shiki asked, "Do you think Mina is in the game too?"

Kairi shook her head sadly. "I'm pretty sure Sora said that the four of them were all that were left."

Shiki seemed quite distressed by it.

_"This place is so different… there's so much sadness here. So much grief. How could the heartless not have come here?"_

"I don't know, Naminé," Kairi whispered.

_"Kairi! Look out!"_

Kairi looked up and swiveled her head.

_"Behind you!"_

Three strange shadows crept across the road, making a beeline for the nearest civilian. Suddenly, out of one climbed a…

"What!? Heartless!?" Roxas's keyblades were drawn in a flash. Ignoring the screams around him, he dove towards the neo shadow, slashing viciously. The neo shadow was a pitch black creature with unusually long and sharp appendages, a pair of large antenna, and glowing yellow eyes. At the moment, its arms were swinging towards the attacking nobody. Then its arms were simply gone, as Oblivion sliced right through them. Roxas fluidly stabbed Oathkeeper forward, ripping through the neo shadow's body. One down, two to go, he thought, as the remaining two shadows emerged.

He did a quick back-flip to avoid the first neo shadow's charge, then rushed forward, slapping it thrice in quick succession with each keyblade. He lunged forward, placing the two keyblades in a cross across the Neo Shadow's neck, and brutally pulled the keyblades to his side, beheading the shadow, which collapsed. Ignoring the danger, the third neo shadow leapt forward in an aerial attack. Roxas neatly parried both blows and spun, flipping Oblivion high into the air. Oathkeeper swept left to right, pushing the heartless back. Roxas leapt up and caught the other keyblade, before finishing the neo shadow with a two-bladed stab.

He turned and noted two more neo shadows crawling out of the ground. "Great," he muttered. A flash of lightning then stole his sight for a moment. Shocked, he dove to the side, then turned. When his vision cleared, he saw Kairi holding a staff, pointing it at the two fading heartless.

"Roxas, are you okay?" asked Kairi.

"Yea, I'm fine."

"What were those?" asked Shiki, worried.

"Those were heartless… what we came here looking for," answered Kairi grimly. "C'mon, Roxas. We need to find Sora."

"Can he really do anything?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter. He needs to know the heartless are here." Then, to herself in a quieter voice. "Besides… I'd feel better if he was close by."

Shiki, who overheard, smiled, but had enough tact to pretend otherwise. The three raced down, reaching the Scramble Crossing within half an hour, where they stopped to catch their breath. As they did so, the reaper's knell rang.

"Sora?" Kairi called excitedly. "Are you here!?" She held her breath, and the bell steady, and watched it carefully. It rang again. "Sora, come with us, alright? We need to talk to you." A third chime signified he understood.

"Kairi, wait up!" said Shiki, exhausted. Roxas had lagged behind to help her keep up, but Kairi was surprisingly energetic.

"Sorry," she said, and she reluctantly slowed down.

They stepped into the fast food restaurant in front of Hachiko five minutes later, where Sora and Sho became visible.

"What's going on?" asked Sora.

Before Kairi could say anything, Roxas answered simply, "Heartless."

"Heartless!?" asked Sora.

Sho seemed intrigued. "Heartless? Sounds zetta awesome."

"They're not," said Roxas, eyes flashing. "Not unless you want this world to fade away."

"The world is garbage! Crunch!" said Sho, pounding his hands together.

Ignoring his partner, Sora asked, "Where did you see the heartless?"

"On the way here. There were five of them, neo shadows," said Roxas.

"Maybe this is why we didn't get a mission today," Sora said quietly.

"You didn't get a mission?" Shiki asked, confused.

"Been waiting all morning, but no," said Sora. "Sho?"

Sho held up his phone. "Nope, no mission."

"Why don't you get your own cell phone, Sora?" Shiki asked. "Kairi got one…"

Sora thought about it for a moment. "Good idea. Let's go."

"Right now?" asked Shiki.

"Why not? Staying here would be useless."

Kairi nodded. "Okay then. Stay close to us, alright Sora?"

Sora nodded, flashing her a reassuring smile, and the five of them set off towards 104.

A few minutes later, they left the scramble crossing. Halfway across the street though, they heard a bloodcurdling scream. All five turned towards the noise, and saw several people fleeing as a dark shadow cross the ground.

No. Not a shadow. A score, or more, smaller shadows. From each rose a neo shadow.

Roxas and Sora simultaneously reached for their keyblades, but a familiar voice interrupted them. "Don't!"

A figure dived from the building. At first glance, he looked like a Reaper, wearing a pure white hoodie and long, light gray jeans. However, the wings on his back were made of beautiful white feathers instead. He landed in front of the heartless, and thrust one hand forward. A sphere of light encased and vaporized the nearest heartless. The rest rushed at the angelic figure.

He chuckled, then lifted several feet into the air. Suddenly, he curled up, pulling his arms and legs close to his body. Light welled around him, and he uncurled explosively, screaming, "Enjoy the moment!" As he did so, great chains of light lashed out of the ground around the heartless, each grabbing a neo shadow. The streams of light flowed into the heartless, causing them to dissolve instantly.

"Watch out!" Sora cried. Another heartless had snuck up behind their savior. He drew his keyblade and leapt, striking at the heartless.

Only for the blade to pass through harmlessly. Ignoring Sora, the heartless lunged towards the stranger. It never even got close to hitting him. His reflexes proved to be as sharp as Sora's, and he spun, releasing a burst of light, killing the last of the heartless.

"Shiki!" came a loud cry. Neku came racing out of 104. "What's going on?" he said, gaping at the strange figure.

"Hey, Phones. Sora, Sho, Shiki, Kairi, Roxas. All of you, come with me," he said. He started off quickly, not even bothering to explain how he knew all six of the people present… two of which were invisible in the RG. They really didn't have a choice. They followed the strange figure across the city of Shibuya, past the park, to a familiar café.

In a flash of light, the strange outfit and wings disappeared. It was none other than Mr. Hanekoma.

"Mr. H!" Kairi cried in recognition.

"C'mon inside so you can see each other," he said, reaching for his keys. At that moment, Sho's phone beeped. He pulled it out of his pocket and flipped it open.

"Erase the unusual enemies across Shibuya. There is no time limit. Fail, and we're all in more trouble than you think. The Composer."

"But… we can't even harm the heartless!" said Sora. "How are we supposed erase them?"

Suddenly, the entire world faded to various shades of black and white, which swirled, warped, and bent. It went on for several minutes, before Shibuya faded back into view. Sora found himself on all fours. He stood up, and steadied himself for a moment, and noticed all his companion's, with the exception of Mr. H, doing the same.

"What was that?" he groaned.

"I don't know," said Shiki.

"It's just like when we first reached this world…" commented Kairi.

"Uhh. Did you guys hear me?" said Sora. They all looked at one another.

"You're alive!" shouted Kairi joyfully, jumping forward and embracing Sora.

"I'm sorry, but that's not the case." They all turned, and found none other than Joshua facing them.

"The game isn't over," said Joshua. "However, the mysterious creatures have returned to our world. Thus, I have temporarily merged the UG and the RG. You still exist on separate planes, but for now, the UG is dominant over the RG. The two of you," he said, looking to Sora and Sho, "should now be able to harm them. Also," he said, turning to Shiki and Neku. "You may find you can use psyches again."

As if in answer to his words, Shiki's stuffed animal, which she never left home without, leapt from her hands, and did a little jig.

"Mr. Mew!?" she said, looking at the stuffed animal, shocked.

"However, it's not your mission," Joshua went on. He shrugged. "I'd suggest you stay out of the way, and allow the reapers and players to destroy the heartless."

"No way!" Kairi, Roxas, and Neku all said simultaneously. Joshua smirked at them, reminding Kairi just how much he got on her nerves.

"Alright then. At least…" he gestured. "Now, you'll be less conspicuous. Good luck, Sanae!" he shouted brightly before disappearing.

"What did he do?" asked Kairi, turning to Roxas and Sora. But the last word was caught in her mouth. "R-Roxas!" she choked. "You… you have wings!?" Roxas seemed similarly stunned. Kairi looked behind her. "Me too!? Neku!? Shiki!?" All four of them had sprouted reaper's wings.

"Don't worry, you're not reapers," Mr. H reassured them. "Joshua just wants to make you look like reapers. It'll also make it easier for him to ah… smooth things out, later. Here, put these on," he said, as he handed them a stack of hoodies of various colors.

"Who are you?" asked Roxas, wonderingly.

Hanekoma laughed. "Just a passerby who thought he should lend a hand."

"Just as I thought things couldn't be worse," Sora grumbled. "First I'm dead, now the heartless are back too."

"Sora," Hanekoma said, looking directly at the boy. "Just enjoy every moment with all you've got." He smiled. "Stay sharp." With that, he entered his café, leaving the heartless hunters behind.

* * * * * * * * * *

A small black vortex appeared in mid-air. It expanded slowly into a spherical shape. Suddenly, three antennae emerged, two on top, and one below. An evil grin and cold yellow eyes manifested themselves upon its face, and its skin became a wrinkly black and dark blue.

Two more soon appeared behind it, and the three darkball heartless careened down Center Street.

"Ready to die?" came a girl's voice from behind.

The three darkballs turned.

"Then die!" finished Neku. With that, he soared towards the heartless with his reaper wings, and launched a vicious shockwave psyche, tearing one apart. Shiki's stuffed animal, Mr. Mew, leapt off his back and dove onto another of the heartless, kicking and scratching wildly. The last heartless rushed towards Neku, who twisted by, his shoulder grazed by the razor sharp antennae. Ignoring the wound, he held up another pin, and a bolt of lightning rushed out, charring the last of the heartless. All 3 of the darkballs slowly melted back into the ground.

The startled crowd backed away, giving the unusual pair some space. Rather than wearing their typical outfits, Shiki wore a dark green hoodie, and Neku wore a similar dark blue one. Both had changed into jeans as well. Overall, the two looked fairly menacing.

"Are you alright, Neku?" asked Shiki, drawing closer and picking up Mr. Mew.

"Yea, I'm fine. You really should try not to use the pig. Anyone who knows you would recognize it."

"He's a cat!"

* * * * * * * * * *

Down by Molco, the civilians had barricaded themselves inside the mall. A handful of neo shadows patrolled the area. Occasionally, one would wildly rush forth and slam into the barricade, before sinking into the ground, and re-emerging a short distance away.

"You radians are subtracting from my arts and crafts time!" came a shout. The neo shadows turned, as one, to see Sho Minamimoto, ex-reaper and once Game Master, glaring at them threateningly. "It's x 2 die!" he roared. A wave of multicolored blades spun out, flying towards the neo shadows. The blades worked in a circular blur, shredding the heartless. One of them dove into the ground and raced towards Sho. "So zetta slow!" he taunted, using a simple psyche to teleport a short distance away, safely out of reach. The neo shadow lunged out of the ground, catching nothing but air. "Any tree can drop an apple! I'll drop the freakin' moon!" It was an exaggeration, as it was a pair of trucks that were dropped. Nonetheless, the poor heartless were-

"Crunch!"

* * * * * * * * * *

"Well, this isn't good," the Game Master said, licking his lollipop, seeming bored.

"Ouch… they're tough," Yashiro Uzuki admitted. She backed away from the heartless carefully, blood matting her pink hair. Two goth metal drakes lay defeated, one surrounded by nearly two dozen neo shadows, with a handful of darkballs floating overhead, the other crushed in the maw of a gigantic heartless, a Behemoth. The beast stood nearly as tall as the nearest skyscraper, with a massive horn on its head and violet fur. As the two reapers watched, it flung the defeated drake to the side, before raining lightning bolts on it from its horn. Twenty feet away, the heartless moved in for the kill. A swipe of the drake's claws destroyed a pair of the heartless, but the rest tore in mindlessly, fearless of the powerful noise.

Kariya shrugged. A sphere of lightning suddenly appeared, circling him, and he glided towards the heartless effortlessly. Predictably, several of the neo shadows charged at him head on, and were subsequently fried by the defensive psyche. Uzuki hurled a blue cross through the air, which shattered into several smaller spikes, raining down and destroying a few more.

Then the behemoth struck. It's massive claw crushed down, Kariya barely dodging in time. The Behemoth shrugged off the blow as the sphere of lightning struck it, and launched its own lightning attack in return. Kariya staggered backwards, barely regaining his balance in time to blast away another neo shadow with a simple burst of flame.

The behemoth crouched, prepared to charge. It stopped cold, however, when an ice spell struck it, pinning it to the ground. Unable to halt its momentum, the beast tripped, falling to the ground. Immediately, not one, but two keyblade masters were upon it, as Sora and Roxas both charged headlong towards the stunned heartless. Blades spinning frantically, Roxas landed more than a dozen hits on the beast before it could begin to recover, as Sora leapt through the air, striking the monster between the eyes.

Defeated, the behemoth let out a great roar, and Sora back flipped off the beast, gliding back towards where Kairi stood, staff drawn. Then the behemoth sank to the ground, and dissolved.

"Impressive… and teamed with a pair of reapers rather than your partner, nonetheless," Kariya remarked lightly.

A pair of bass reapers suddenly dropped down. "Sir, I think that's the last of them. The creatures in front of Molco, on Center Street, and at Hachiko were all destroyed."

"Oh good. Then I suppose your mission is complete," he said. As the words left his mouth though, a strange whistling sound was heard. They turned to see three heartless wearing elaborate violet cloaks appear, each carrying a wizard's relic identical to the one Kairi borrowed from Donald. Another black vortex opened, dropping a pair of large, bulky heartless carrying massive shields. Before the portal disappeared, a small red dragon, a wyvern heartless, soared out of it.

Roxas held his keyblades low, ready to charge, as Sora edged closer to Kairi, holding his keyblade slanted diagonally to parry any ranged attacks.

"Go Mr. Mew!"

"Get 'em piggy!"

A shadow rose behind them all, and they turned to see Shiki's stuffed animal, now over a hundred feet tall, with two Reaper-like figures on its shoulders. Mr. Mew's eyes flared, and great violet lasers shot from his eyes and ripped back and forth, tearing the heartless to pieces. Light burst from the cracks in the road, and for a moment, it was too bright for anything to be seen. When it faded away, Mr. Mew had returned to his normal proportions, and the heartless were gone.

"Congratulations." They turned and saw a slight figure walking towards them. It was Joshua. "Really, you did a bang-up job. I'd call that a mission complete."

"Composer," said Kariya, bowing respectfully, although there was a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"So, is that it then?" Sora demanded of Joshua.

"Indeed it was. Good luck, Sora. Only two days to go… although you really ought to pick up the pace. Or maybe give your partner a free reign," Joshua said with a knowing smirk. The entire world then seemed to distort again, turning to shades of black and white. When it returned to normal, all the reapers and Sora were gone, along with Kairi and Roxas's wings.

For Sora and the other players, though, it the world simply faded to black.


	9. Chapter 8: The Beginning of the End

**Chapter 8: Day Six, The Beginning of the End**

_Heartless stormed down the deserted alleyway. Sora watched, in fear, as dozens… hundreds… thousands even, of shadows rose from the ground. As he fled, he noticed them mutate into Neo Shadows as they pursued him across The World That Never Was. The darkness of the night was only broken by the neon lights that had never truly died. Sora ran towards a skyscraper, with an opened door at the base. Before it stood none other than Xenmas. The Nobody master of Organization XIII, the Superior, reached into his pockets._

_Sora turned. Heartless, or Xenmas? Even as he considered the situation, a great shadow fell over him. It was Mr. Mew. And it was a heartless. The decision wasn't hard. At least he had beaten Xenmas before. Sora ran back towards the building, keyblade drawn. Even as he did so, Xenmas pulled a strange weapon from his pocket. A gun? Xenmas fired. The bullet split, into twelve, two of them striking his shoulders, a third striking him in the heart._

"No!" cried Sora, sitting upright. Then he noticed, he was back at the Scramble Crossing.

"You zetta son of digits, how long did you plan to sleep!?"

Sora yawned and stretched. "Did we get the mission mail yet?"

"Course not, zetta slow as the GM is," muttered Sho mutinously. Even as he said so, though, the cell phone rang.

"Oh right… I didn't get my phone yesterday," said Sora. "Maybe today then…"

Sho read the mission mail. "Since you-know-who is the laziest GM ever, I'm writing the mission for today. Today's mission will be easy: Reaper Sport One. Come to Shibuya Blitz when you're ready to play. You have three hours. Fail, and face erasure. Yashiro Uzuki."

"Reaper… Sport… One?" asked Sora, confused. "What's that?"

Sho looked as confused as Sora. "There never was a Reaper Sport One…" he groaned. "Reapers can't count."

"Somehow, I don't think that'll be enough for her," said Sora. "Shibuya Blitz… why there?"

"Sora! Sho!" The two players turned to see Kay and Shuto rushing towards them. Sora waved at the two, in relief. He had been quite worried about the other players, with the heartless attack the day before.

"Hey, you guys made it!" shouted Shuto excitedly. "We were getting worried!"

"Of course we did. You guys fought the heartless yesterday, too?" asked Sora.

"Is that what they were called?" asked Kay. "They cornered us down by the statute of Hachiko. It was a pretty close fight," she admitted.

"What about today's mission, then?" asked Shuto. "Reaper Sport One? What do you think it could be?"

"Ugh. You stupid zeroes, there is no Reaper Sport One. There's never been a Reaper Sport One!" complained Sho loudly.

"Whoa, hold it Sho!" demanded Kay. "First of all, what's a Reaper Sport?"

Sho glared at her witheringly. "A little coefficient of fun, to subtract from their boredom."

"Something the reapers do to have fun," Sora translated. "What Reaper Sports are there then?"

Sho held up a fist. "Reaper Sport Two, Hide and Seek," he said, extending one finger. "Reaper Sport Three, Player Hunt," extending a second. "Reaper Sport Four, Tag," extending a third.

"Reaper Sport One?" asked Sora.

"THERE. IS. NO. FACTORING. REAPER. SPORT. ONE!" Sho roared, frustrated.

"So what do we do then?" asked Kay, worried. "Why would they ask us to play a sport that doesn't exist."

"Well there's gotta be a Reaper Sport One… maybe they added after you left," Sora said. "I wonder if Neku would know."

"Phones was never a reaper," reminded Sho.

"Still worth a try," said Kay, as they headed off, aimlessly. "Any idea where he might be, Sora?"

"Not really… maybe we should find Kairi first, she could help us find him." With that, they headed towards Shiki's house. They didn't actually make it there, though, as they found Neku on Cadoi Street.

"There he is!" said Sora. They quickly followed Neku north, to Molco.

"Yo Phones!" called Beat excitedly. He then noticed the others, stepping into the mall behind Neku. "Hey! It's Pi-Face and Spikes!" he said brightly. Neku turned around and saw the players as well.

"Hey Sora," he said, nonchalantly.

"Neku, do you know what Reaper Sport One is? That's our mission for today." asked Sora.

Neku groaned. "No, but whatever you do, don't ask-"

"Yo man, I know! Reaper Spurt One is… umm… hide and seek, yo!"

"-Beat," finished Neku, slapping his own forehead.

"Zetta son of digits, Hide and Seek is Reaper Sport Two," corrected Sho. "Stupid radian."

"Yo that's right… Reaper Spurt One… was it Russet Relay?"

"Russet… relay?" asked Sora, confused. He turned to Shuto and Kay who both shrugged. Sora found himself thinking of potatoes racing down a track. "What's russet relay?"

"You know, you have that gun… and you shoot, yo. And if you die, you lose!"

The four players and Neku looked at each other incredulously for a moment, before Kay finally realized what Beat was saying.

"Russian Roulette?" she asked.

"Yea that's it, yo!" Beat said enthusiastically.

She made a face. "That's so crude," she said.

"I don't get it, what's Russian Roulette?" asked Sora.

"Well, you take a gun and put a bullet in it. Then you spin the cylinder, point, and shoot at your own head. If you die, you lose…"

"That's a game?" asked Sora, horrified.

"Yea, it's Reaper Spurt One yo!"

"Are you sure?" asked Shuto. Sho snorted.

"Hey, I used to be a Reaper! We cool!" said Beat defiantly.

Sho shook his head. "There's no way that's right," he said. Even he had to admit, though, that they didn't have much else to go on. The four players headed off, after Neku warned them not to take Beat seriously, and Beat wished them luck. They found their way obstructed, however, by a reaper in a red hoodie.

"If you want past here… why don't you bring me the new CD they're selling in that store on Towa records?" he asked with a wide grin.

"That's extortion!" Shuto complained.

"Oh well. Tough," said the reaper with a shrug.

Without any alternatives, they turned and walked down to Towa Records, about five minutes away. There, they found a CD store.

"What can I get ya, bro?" asked a sleazy looking shopkeeper with a brown beanie obscuring his eyes.

"A friend of ours wanted the new CD you have," said Sora quickly. "How much will it be?"

"It's a promotion bro, the CD's free," the shopkeeper said generously, passing the article over the counter.

"Thanks!" Sora said, running outside where the others waited. They returned to the reaper, who let them past this time, and headed down to Dogenzaka. Soon enough, they reached the Shibuya Blitz arena they had built two days ago.

A group of five Baritone Reapers, wearing yellow hoodies and dark blue jeans, stood by the entrance. A fairly large crowd had gathered in the stands, and Uzuki sat at a nearby table alone. They looked at each other.

"I uhh… vote for Sho to play," said Kay immediately

"Me too," said Shuto, catching on.

Sora looked at Sho nervously, remembering that if his partner died, he'd die too. Sho, surprisingly, just laughed. "You yoctograms, a bullet won't kill me," he said confidently. He strode over and sat down in front of Uzuki.

"What are you doing here, Numbers? You should be getting ready," the reaper asked him suspiciously.

"Ready as ever, pinky," he taunted.

"Hey! Leave my hair out of this!" she protested.

"Just hand over the factoring gun."

"Gun?"

Sho groaned. "I told you guys… there's no Reaper Sport One! That ramen raiding radian had no idea what he was talking about!"

Sora looked relieved. Confident as Sho was, he wasn't sure he wanted his partner pointing a gun at himself. Especially if he would die if Sho died.

"What!?" said Uzuki angrily. "There is too a Reaper Sport One!"

"Oh yea? What is it, pinky?"

"Whatever they play here," Uzuki retorted. "And your opponents are right there!" she said, gesturing towards the five Reapers.

"Blitzball?" Sora asked incredulously.

"Sure. Kariya did say to introduce a new sport," Uzuki said, as if it were obvious.

All three of the other players turned to Sora. "You know… we sort of slept through your friend Roxas's explanation of how this game works," said Kay quietly.

* * * * * * * * * *

A few minutes later, Sora, Shuto, Kay and Sho had changed and were swimming inside the spherical arena, as the three others practiced holding their breath. Sho had already submitted the name for their team (which he had devised alone. Sora, Shuto, and Kay were occupied with other matters), and they had less than twenty minutes to practice.

"This isn't going to work," said Kay, emerging from the sphere and gasping for air. "I can't even stay inside for more than a minute," she complained, as Sora emerged.

"It's alright, I doubt they can either," Sora said comfortingly, pointing at the opposing team. On the opposite end of the arena, the reapers seemed every bit annoyed with the game as Kay, Shuto, and Sho were. Then Sora noticed something. "Say, umm. We need six players."

Shuto had just emerged, and was breathing hard. He heard Sora, and counted really quick. "We only have three," he said, worried.

"Four," said Sho. "You can't count?" Of the three, he was the quickest in getting used to holding his breath underwater, for an extended period of time. "We'll crunch them," he said confidently, looking at the five baritone reapers, who seemed no more ready than Shuto or Kay were. They were taking turns diving, before surfacing a moment later, gasping for air. "And fortunately, they can't count either."

A large clock was set above the commentator's stand, showing the time before the match. As the timer counted down, the crowd grew bigger, drawn, no doubt, by a figure who seemed to garner the attention of every young female in the room. He was blonde and wore a luxurious white coat. He had a dazzling, serene smile, seemingly plastered on his face.

"Omigosh! It's the prince!" came a cry in a familiar voice from the doorway. Sora turned and saw Shiki, Kairi, Roxas, Beat, Rhyme, and Neku standing at the doorway. Shiki, the speaker, sprinted across the room, trying to find a seat near the strange celebrity. Interestingly enough, only Kairi and Neku noticed the players. Beat was occupied, looking for a curry store from the sounds of it, and Rhyme was trying desperately to keep her brother out of trouble. Neku and Kairi walked up to the arena. Roxas had followed Shiki, looking slightly confused.

"So much for Russian Roulette huh?" said Neku with a grin.

"This is your mission?" said Kairi with a smile. She had seen Sora play Blitzball before, and this time, neither Tidus nor Wakka was here to show him up. Then she noticed the fact that neither Shuto, nor Kay, could stay underwater for even half a minute. Thanks to the few times Sora and Riku had tried to teach her to play, she knew that, as horrible at this game as she was, she could hold her breath for at least a minute.

Sora splashed out of the arena on the side closest to Kairi and Neku. "Yea. We only have four players… but the reapers only have five so it's not too bad."

"Aren't you only supposed to have two people on each team?" asked Kairi, surprised. At home, it had always been Sora and Wakka against Riku and Tidus. Tidus was _really_ good, so they usually paired him with Riku, who wasn't quite as good at blitzball as he was with fighting.

"No, it's supposed to be six," said Sora impatiently. "We just don't have enough people back on the Islands."

"Kay and Shuto don't look like they're doing so well," noted Kairi hesitantly. "Who are you playing against?"

Sora jerked a thumb over his shoulder, indicating the reapers on the other side. At this, Kairi laughed. One of the reapers had just emerged, his face entirely blue.

"Well, hello there everyone!" came a call. Uzuki was standing in the announcer's stands, and besides her was the GM, paying no attention and enjoying a bowl of ramen. "Welcome to the Shibuya Blitz Arena! Today's match will be played between the reapers and…" suddenly her face turned red.

"NUMBERS!" she screamed angrily.

Sho grinned. "You factoring hectopascal, if you want a shorter name, ask for it next time!"

Uzuki shook her head. She took a deep breath. "Today's match will be played between the Reapers and Team 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679…" she paused to catch her breath.

"Go on," said Sho with a devious grin as the crowd cheered and laughed at the sight of the flustered woman.

"Forget it, we're stopping there," she said, with a cold glare. With that, she tossed the blitzball into the arena, and started the clock.

The game proved to be fairly disappointing, Sora thought, but at least the crowd enjoyed it. Before the first five minute half of the game was over, Sora had already scored thrice, and Shuto had passed out from holding his breath too long. Then, Sora decided to be a little flashy. After all, Tidus wasn't here to jibe him if he failed, nor was Roxas in his mind, ready to surprise him mid-stunt.

He carried the ball, dodging a reaper, to the other side. He released it, and it floated upwards slightly. One of the reapers swam closer, attempting to steal it, only to be struck in the face as Sora pounded the ball towards him, hard. It rebounded back to Sora, who knocked it towards a second Reaper. This time it rebounded and floated upwards. Sora leapt up, and twirled around four or five times to build momentum, finishing with a well aimed kick that sent the ball straight into the net.

The crowd remained silent for a moment, before bursting into cheers and applause.

"Well, Tidus is in for a surprise," Roxas shouted to Kairi over the applause. Tidus had been showing that move off ever since they had returned to the Islands a month ago, and Sora's previous attempts were usually foiled, to the other boy's delight. Of course, after his experience playing Tin Pin with Naminé in his head, he couldn't really fault Sora.

As they watched, the reapers climbed out of the arena, looking totally exhausted. Kay left as well, checking on her partner, who was still laying out cold on the ground. Although there was a minute left in the game, it seemed the reapers had given up. One was shouting angrily with Uzuki in the stands, who was shouting back, equally furious.

The crowds continued cheering, led by the strange blonde-haired celebrity, for several minutes longer. Finally, the timer rang and the game was officially over. Sora had gotten dressed and was in the stands along with the other players.

"Did you see that!?" he cried happily, the moment he saw Roxas and Kairi. "When we get back to the Islands, I'm going to show that Tidus!"

Roxas laughed. "Are you sure?" he asked with a smirk. Sora glared at him.

"So the mission's done, right?" asked Kairi. Sora looked down, and indeed the timer was gone. Up in the commentator's stand, Uzuki was reluctantly pushing a small pile of money to Game Master Kariya. 600 yen, enough for another bowl of shouyu ramen on a later date.

"Yea, it's over," he said, looking back to Kairi and smiling. "Don't worry Kai. Only one more day. Say, why don't we go get something to eat?" he suggested.

"Sure!" Kairi readily agreed. The three of them, Sora, Roxas, and Kairi, head down the street to a small seafood restaurant for lunch. They ate mostly in silence, however, all pondering the same thought. What would the last day's mission be?

* * * * * * * * * *

Meanwhile, across the city, near Shibu-Q Heads, a strange figure was hard at work, painting a strange marking on the wall. As he did so, he muttered to himself, "Eight… Nine… Seven… Nine…" his brush spun and danced, until…

"Perfect… the solution has been found." The figure stepped back, admiring the beauty of his own artwork. A strange symbol was painted on the wall, in shades of gray. Several more like it were painted around the area.


	10. Chapter 9: Sho Down

**Chapter 9: Day Seven, Sho-Down**

Sora awoke early the next morning, in the Scramble once more. Sho, too, was awake, and surprisingly agitated.

"Stay sharp, Spikes. Today could be zetta challenging."

"It's the last day… isn't it?" asked Sora.

Sho nodded. "And that means Lollipop can attack us now," he reminded.

"He didn't look so tough," remarked Sora.

Sho shook his head. "Don't let him fool you. He's one tough number. Even more so, now that he's a Game Master… GMs are always zetta strong." He tossed his phone to Sora.

"I already know what the mission mail will say," he explained. "Defeat the Game Master. T = 60 Minutes. Incompletes will be erased."

"How do you know?" asked Sora, as the phone rang.

"Tradition. It's garbage."

Sora held up the phone and read aloud, "Leave the Game Master alone for an hour. Fail, and face erasure. The reapers."

A 60 minute timer appeared on their hands, and Sora looked at Sho strangely. "Leave the Game Master alone?"

Sho stepped closer and grabbed his phone in disbelief. "What the factor is he playing at?" Sho groaned. "Guess this will be an easy mission."

* * * * * * * * * *

Kairi lay on the Misaki's couch, tired. She couldn't sleep. Today would be the last day… day seven of the game. Sora would be back after. She was pretty sure Sora wouldn't be coming back today when he won, it would likely take another day. She kept telling herself that, but sleep simply wouldn't come.

_"Are you alright, Kairi?"_

"Yea, I'm alright," she said quietly. It was almost dawn, from the looks of it.

She heard a loud ringing sound. At first she thought, even hoped, it was the reaper's knell, but it wasn't. It was Shiki's cell phone. She stood up and walked over the table upon which it rested, and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Shiki, come to Shibu-Q heads, and bring –"

"This isn't Shiki," said Kairi, recognizing Neku's voice. "It's me, Kairi."

"Kairi? Oh. That's good. Get everyone down to Shibu-Q heads. Roxas and Shiki, Beat and Rhyme if you can find them. You all need to see this." With that, Neku hung up.

"Kairi, who was it?" asked Shiki, stepping down the stairs lightly.

"Neku," Kairi answered, confused. "He says he needs both of us to go down to Shibu-Q heads…"

* * * * * * * * * *

"Ugh. That lazy bum… what kind of final mission is this?" Uzuki raged, storming down the street, along with two bass reapers. "Leave the Game Master alone!? I can't believe him!"

"It's almost like he's too lazy to be Game Master," one of the two groaned. "Why wouldn't the Composer give me a chance instead?"

The three found themselves at Shibu-Q heads, where Uzuki stopped to purchase a bottle of Royal Gummi, medicine that increased one's endurance. As they stepped outside, she noticed something strange on the wall. The three stepped closer for a look.

"What is it?" asked one of the Bass Reapers.

Ignoring him, Uzuki grabbed her phone. "Kariya. We've got a problem… can you come down to Shibu-Q heads?"

"Noise!" one of the Reapers suddenly screamed. The other Reaper and Uzuki turned, to face a pair of peculiar noise, that were solidly black and silver. One looked like the goth metal drakes she frequently commanded, the other, a rhinoceros.

Yashiro Uzuki rarely backed down from anything. Let alone noise, which didn't even attack reapers. But this time was an exception. She recognized the strange noise. "Run!" she screamed, summoning a portal, through which all three of the Reaper's fled.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Are you sure, Uzuki?" asked Kariya, a hint of fear in his voice.

She nodded. "Absolutely."

Kariya nodded. "Let's go." He spread his wings and leapt off the top of the Pork City skyscraper in which he had been hiding, flying towards Shibu-Q. "Is this Number's doing again?" he muttered to himself, grimly. He remembered all too well when their Game Master had gone maverick.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Sora's in trouble," announced Neku, as Shiki and Kairi approached. Kairi gasped.

"What!? How!?"

Neku pointed at a strange pattern on the wall. It was unusual. It seemed to be made from various geometric shapes, but the pattern was hard to discern. Unlike CAT's art near the backstreets of Shibuya, though, this art gave off a sense of danger. Four of the strange patterns embellished the nearby walls. Kairi felt uneasy.

"What are they?" she asked. Neku didn't have a chance to answer.

"Better get out of here, kids," said Kariya, suddenly dropping by in front of them. As he was a reaper, his wings would disappear when he became visible in the UG. Regardless, Neku recognized him at once.

"Lollipop, what's going on?" he asked. It occurred to Kairi that Neku was rarely scared of anything. Why would a drawing on the wall induce such panic in him? She looked at the wall, and felt a sense of dread creeping inside of her. Maybe that was why…

Kariya turned, noting a large pile of debris that had certainly not been there the day before.

"Run!" he screamed suddenly. He reverted to the UG, wings sprouting, and erected a barrier in time to deflect a barrage of multicolored sparks. Without hesitation, Neku grabbed Shiki and Kairi both by the wrists, and dragged them off.

Once they were gone, Kariya nodded, satisfied, and teleported off. He lifted his cell phone and typed in a text message.

* * * * * * * * * *

Sho's phone rang again, and he lifted it. He read it silently, then passed it to Sora.

"Due to unforeseen circumstances, your mission has been exchanged. Defeat the mysterious noise in front of Shibu-Q Heads. Fail, and face erasure. Koki Kariya," Sora read aloud. "Unforeseen circumstances? Are the heartless back?" asked Sora.

Sho shook his head. "If it is, we can't do anything about it. Though that factoring hectopascal probably doesn't know that." He set off, leading Sora to Shibu-Q heads.

"What do you think this strange noise is?" asked Sora, worried. The two sprinted down Cadoi City street, and headed up towards Molco.

"How the factor would I know!?" shouted Sho, frustrated.

They turned on Spanish Hill, knowing that Shibu-Q Heads was near. As they turned in that direction, they ran straight through Kairi, Shiki, and Neku, who in turn, crashed into Roxas, who was right behind them. Sora stopped.

"Roxas!" said Kairi. The nobody had simply refused to wake earlier.

"No time, let's go!" said Neku. "We've got to get as far as possible!"

"What's going on, Neku?" Roxas demanded.

"Neku, wait!" protested Shiki. "What was that thing?"

Sora considered ringing the bell Kairi still wore, but decided against it. If Neku was scared, then something really, really bad must be ahead of them, and he'd rather Kairi be as far from ground zero as possible.

"Neku, Shiki, Kairi, what's going on?" Roxas repeated.

"Something's gone wrong in the UG," said Neku hastily. "I don't know what's going on, but the last time I saw Pi-Face draw one of those, things didn't turn out so hot."

"Pi-Face? Sho? Sora's partner?" asked Kairi, her heart plummeting.

Neku nodded grimly. "I don't know what he's up to, but if Sho's gone maverick again, who knows what he can do."

Sora turned towards his partner, who just shrugged. "Just what are you up to!?" he shouted, drawing his keyblade.

"You zetta son of digits, I have as much staked on this game as you!"

That placated Sora for a moment.

"Factoring hectopascal, we don't even know what they're talking about," Sho reminded.

Sora grimaced. "Fine. Let's go then."

"With no idea what we're up against? Stupid zeroes…" Sho groaned.

"Well, do you have any better ideas!?" Sora demanded. Taking the silence as a no, he turned and tried to continue, only to step straight through Kairi. His arm brushed her wrist as he stepped through her, ringing it. Sora froze, hoping she wouldn't notice.

No such luck. "Sora!" Kairi said, suddenly. The others looked at her and she held up her arm.

"Sora, can you hear us?" asked Neku. "Don't go yet, meet us back at Molco!"

"That's not going to work," said Roxas. "He's probably already gone. He'd hardly listen anyways." With that, Roxas turned and ran back towards Shibu-Q, shortly followed by Kairi.

Sho laughed. "Good job, Spikes," he said sarcastically.

A lump welled in Sora's throat. He didn't have any choice now, he supposed. He turned and sprinted towards Shibu-Q, followed by Sho.

* * * * * * * * * *

As they arrived in front of the store, Sora let out a gasp. Kay and Shuto, propelled through the air, flew past him. Shuto crashed into the wall, dazed, and Kay slammed hard on the concrete floor. She bounced limply, and landed, sprawled face down. A barrage of magical darts rained on her, and before Sora could react, Kay let out a little moan as the psyche did its work. Kay faded away.

"No! Kay!" cried Shuto, rushing forward to where his partner had vanished.

"He's done," remarked Sho. "You heard the rules. Seven minutes."

Sora shook his head. "He's not done." He turned and looked Sho straight in the eyes. "T = 7 minutes then, as you say. Let's go!"

"Wait!" Shuto said. "Be careful! He's tough!"

Heedless of the warning, Sora and Sho raced headlong forward to confront their final opponent.

Just up ahead stood a heap of random debris. It stretched fifty feet into the sky, and on top was a large board. A man stood facing the board, sketching some sort of symbol. "Three is the point of the one, four the one five nine are two," he muttered grimly. Suddenly he broke out laughing, back still turned. "Infinity!" he cried.

A reaper decal appeared on the board, and Sora, Shuto, Sho, and the noise became visible for Neku, Shiki, Kairi, and Roxas to see.

"Yo!" cried Beat, racing down the street.

"Shiki! What's going on?" asked Rhyme frantically. She stopped, as the noise and players appeared, seemingly out of thin air.

"You zetta son of digits!" the figure at the top of the figured cried, leaping down. "What the factor took you so long!?"

Sora could not believe his eyes. Before him was a man who resembled Sho, almost down to the last detail. However, whoever it was seemed to have been on the bad end of an accident. He still wore the same black coat, but both sleeves were shredded, and the buttons had all long since fallen off, exposing his muscular chest, which was covered with bizarre tattoos. His jeans were scarred even more heavily, and his black gloves seemed melted into his hands. Speaking of which, his hands had been warped, seeming almost like claws. There was no mistaking that face though, nor the maniacal expression.

"Introducing my latest masterpiece! I call it: MYSELF!" he roared, laughing. "We did need an audience, after all," he smirked. The so-called audience watched in stunned silence.

"… yo man, that's Tabooty!" said Beat, finally. "But I thought he and Pi-Face were the same guy, yo!"

"There… there are two of them?" Kairi gasped.

Sho backed away, intimidated. "Spikes, this is zetta bad. We can't win…"

Sora looked at the demented copy of Sho. "You… you have a twin?"

Sho shook his head. "No. Worse… far worse."

Worse? Worse than a second Sho? Sora could hardly deal with one. He gulped.

"Sora, get away from him," shouted Neku, regaining his composure at last. "You can't harm him! He's made of Taboo Noise!"

"Good job Phones, you remembered," said Sho, smirking, and backing away slowly. "When I tried to fry the prissy kid, I brought myself back… as noise. But not just any noise… Taboo Noise."

"Taboo… noise?" asked Sora, confused. Then he shook his head. "It doesn't matter. We have to take him, now! Or Shuto will fade too!" Sora called his keyblade, and leapt forward, slashing wildly.

"So zetta slow!" his target shouted, blinking instantly behind him. Sora whirled, but again his keyblade struck only air, as the Taboo Sho teleported away. The real Sho fired a barrage of magical darts, which connected, but didn't even scratch the noise. Their opponent grinned, and retaliated with a magical barrage of his own. As he was distracted, Sora took the chance to sneak up behind him. Sora lunged forward, stabbing as hard as he could. His keyblade merely bounced off of the noise, who turned and blasted him away with a powerful, close ranged psyche.

"Sora!" called Kairi, running to his side. Roxas, too, leapt forward, drawing his keyblades. Both blades sliced towards the noise Sho, but as the first one connected, Roxas was thrown back. Taboo Sho blinked behind him, and grabbed him by the neck. Roxas struggled, swinging his keyblades wildly and releasing a shower of various spells, all of which taboo noise ignored.

"You factoring hectopascal! You're so zetta slow!" he taunted, hurling Roxas against the side of the building. Roxas slid down, slumped against the now cracked wall.

"Inverse matrix!" Taboo Sho roared, and suddenly, the patterns against the wall came to life and began to shift. As if they were portals, noise rose from their depths. Out hopped a pair of black and silver frogs, and a kangaroo-like noise, also black and silver.

These, Sora knew how to deal with. He jumped to his feet, racing past Kairi. he lunged forward, releasing a burst of stop magic as he went, holding the first frog in place. He brought his keyblade in an underhand arc, ending with a repeated spinning attack, scoring a dozen hits on it, before finishing with a downwards stab and a light explosion. The stop spell faded, and the frog bounced away. To his surprise, the frog leapt back to his feet, and Sora dodged to the side as the Kangaroo came crashing down.

"W-Why can't I hurt these!?" shouted Sora, frustrated. He parried off a tackle from a frog, and slashed it thrice, again doing no harm.

"N-Factorial!" A stream of multicolored energy burst forth from Sho's hand, knocking the kangaroo back. Sho roared, and Sora watched as he transformed into the lion-like monster. "So zetta slow!" He blinked away from a frog, and grabbed the other, crushing it in his grip, before flinging it to the ground. The victimized noise struck the floor, before bouncing and landing on its feet.

Sho's ferocious visage dropped, to be replaced by one of horror. As Sora rushed forward, an identical copy of Sho's lion like form appeared, and grabbed the real Sho by the neck.

"Infinity!" A blast of dark magic appeared, sending Sho flying. Sora's partner was forced to revert to his normal form.

"Sho, what's going on!?" asked Sora, rushing to his partner's side.

Sho gritted his teeth. "Those are Taboo noise. I knew how to make taboo refinery sigils," he said, indicating the strange patterns on the wall. "The Composer beat me… but powerful noise leaves a trace, an echo of the noise." Sho staggered to his feet. "And that's what that is… an echo of me."

"But why can't we hurt it?" The question was cut short, as the two of them dove aside, as a rain of magic along with the three taboo noises crashed forwards. Sora raced back to his friends, watching the battle, shocked, in front of Shibu-Q Heads.

"Neku, how do I beat a taboo noise!?" he asked desperately. Neku shook his head, horrified.

"You need to be in synch with your partner… once you do, taboo noise will become vulnerable."

"In synch?"

"Of the same mind… and effort."

"What does that mean!?" Sora demanded, confused.

"But… Sora hasn't really… worked together with Sho," said Shiki, worried.

"That's why neither of them can hurt the Taboo Noise," muttered Neku grimly.

Sora glanced at Shuto. He was still there, thankfully, so they weren't out of time yet.

"Sora, use this," said Neku, producing a small blank pin. "I don't know if it will work, but it's the only chance you have. Keep fighting, and see if it gathers strength."

Sora nodded. "Thanks," he said grimly, and raced forward, attacking the taboo noise once more.

Magic continued to slice back and forth across the battle field, as both taboo Sho and the real Sho launched their most powerful spells towards each other. However, taboo Sho merely shrugged off the attacks, and Sho was forced to dodge, evade, and block the powerful spells.

"Crunch!" taboo Sho snarled, and hurled another powerful blast at Sho.

"Die, Radians!" Sho sang in response, hurling another blast.

Sora tried to attack the frogs once more, but it was still no good. He struck furiously, keeping the frogs and kangaroo at bay, without harming them. The kangaroo leapt up into the air as Sora had his back turned. Sora, who was busy battling the frogs, didn't notice.

"Sora!" Kairi cried. Sora looked up in time to see the kangaroo, but it was too late to do anything. He braced himself for the attack, which knocked him flying. The frogs leapt forward, in an effort to finish Sora off. Without hesitation, Kairi whipped out her staff and aimed it at the frogs, freezing them mid-flight. As they crashed, the ice shattered, and they were still unharmed, but it bought Sora enough time to clamor back to his feet. Sora leapt up and attacked the frogs once more, as Kairi, encouraged by her first success, began launching alternating blasts of ice and fire.

The battle went on for almost a full minute. "We're running out of time," Sora whispered, as he glanced to make sure Shuto had not faded quite yet. He hadn't, but Sora guessed they had less than two minutes left, at most. He lifted the pin Neku had passed him, and to his surprise, there was now a symbol on it… no, wait. It wasn't the pin Neku had given him. It was the pin Kairi had given him, many days ago. And it was calling to him.

Sora didn't have much of a choice. He held up the pin, and words flowed through his mind. "Light!" he screamed, and a burst of magic sent the taboo noise reeling back, as he lifted up into the air.

When the light faded, Sora was hovering a few feet off the ground. His outfit had changed, and was now silver, white, and gold. In each hand, he held an Oathkeeper keyblade. He was forcibly reminded of Valor, Wisdom, Master, and Final, the four drive forms he had shifted to various times throughout his last quest. _Destiny form._ He knew what it was called, and he knew he was now in synch with his partner. And now, the taboo noise were in trouble.

Sora glided forward, releasing both blades, which whirled violently around him. He spun, and caught the handles once more, before putting them into a violent attack routine, tearing the taboo noise to pieces, as Shiki, Neku, Beat, and Rhyme cheered. Then he turned.

Sho… still couldn't hurt the Taboo Noise? The two Sho's continued to do battle, the real one beginning to falter.

"How… how could we be in synch then?" gasped Sora aloud. He understood a moment later, when another figure, also clad in silver, white, and gold soared towards the Taboo Sho, also wielding an Oathkeeper in each hand. Kairi.

"Kairi! No!" Sora cried, gliding forward. But Kairi didn't listen. She spun, twirling her blades, as the Taboo Sho just laughed. His laugh ended in a gasp of pain, as Kairi's blades struck him four times in quick succession. As Kairi struck again, taboo Sho blinked away.

"So zetta slow!" he shouted. "Sine!" A shower of green sparks flew at Kairi, who was knocked out of the air. Inexperienced as she was, she could hardly hope to block the attack as Sora would. Sora leapt forward, and taboo Sho rounded on him. "Cosine!" Red blades spun out of the taboo Noise's hand, spinning towards Sora. "Tangent!" Taboo Sho shouted out at the top of his voice, and a spinning blue blade soared out towards Sora, splitting into a dozen, knocking him down.

The moment Sora touched the ground, he released his keyblades and pushed back off with his hands, soaring straight at Sho. He spiraled, catching both keyblades, using his momentum to lead an aerial combo. Taboo Sho blinked away once more. "Zetta-"

The last word ended in a gurgle, as he teleported away, facing Sora. Kairi had leapt back to her feet as well, and the noise wound up in front of her. She wasted no time smashing him in the neck with both Oathkeeper keyblades she held.

They watched, stunned, as taboo Sho collapsed. "You… factoring… yoctograms," he cursed, as he sank into the ground,

Destiny form faded, leaving both Sora and Kairi as they had been before. Sora turned, and noticed Shuto had become transparent. "No!" cried Sora, running towards the player. Then, his whole body seemed to freeze, mid-stride.

"Talk about going out with a bang," said Kariya, dropping down. "Surviving players, come along now," he said, and waved his hand. Sora, Sho, and Shuto all disappeared, leaving the street ravaged, and debris scattered all over.

And so the seventh day was over.

The game was over.


	11. Chapter 10: Renewal

**Chapter 10: Renewal**

A ring was heard, as the street light changed from red to green. The conversations of the crowd around them seemed to blend into monotonous chatter. Sora climbed to his feet. Sure enough, he was back at the Scramble Crossing. He shook his head, deep in thought.

It was over. This time, for good. He paced around aimlessly for a few minutes, before sitting back down in the middle of the road. People in the RG couldn't see him anyways.

Was this his fate? Fading away on another world, a brutal end for the keyblade master, ensnared by the kindness within his own heart? He didn't want to believe it… but…

* * * * * * * * * *

_"Congratulations," drawled Kariya. "The three of you are the only victors of the initial group of seventeen. You three have braved noise and reapers alike, and intense challenges throughout this past week, all for this moment." He almost sounded serious, which, of course, made the entire scene all the more comical._

_He looked at Sho. "The Composer has informed me of the bargain. You, Sho Minamimoto, are a reaper once more. Wear your wings with pride," he said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Sho took no notice of it. As Shuto and Sora watched, wings sprouted from the reaper's back. He examined them for a moment._

_"The equation is perfect," Sho said. He looked up. "Where is the Composer?"_

_"Shibuya River, of course."_

_Sho grinned. "I have one more coefficient to collect." With that, he stepped out of the room, and left._

_"So, that leaves the two of you," said Kariya, turning to Shuto and Sora. "The true winner of this game, the remaining member of the team that scored the highest is..."_

_"Shuto Dan."_

_"Yea!" Shuto cheered._

_"Congratulations, Shooter. Your life is now yours once more. Await the Composer, who will return your life to you." A door of light opened, and Shuto stepped through, without a look back, eager to return to the city in which he belonged._

_Sora felt a tight knot in his stomach. If Shuto was to be given a new life, what would become of him?_

_"As for you," said Kariya, turning to Sora. He chuckled. "You really are a fool. Had you waited a moment longer to erase the last noise, or allowed your partner to dispose of the other players as he had intended, it would be you walking through that gate."_

_Sora clenched his teeth. "No. I'm not going to kill other people for my own sake," he said grimly._

_"Not even for hers?" Kariya asked, mockingly. He held up his camera phone, which depicted Kairi embracing him in front of the Wildkat Café._

_"Leave her out of this!" Sora roared angrily._

_"Touched a nerve, have I?"_

_Sora stayed silent, glaring at the reaper threateningly._

_Kariya laughed. "Sorry, Spikes, I really couldn't resist. Now, on to business. You have three options before you. Well, two, really… if the life of a reaper has impressed you, I have the authority to grant you with the wings your partner, Numbers, chose. Should the sweet respite of erasure beckon to you instead, that is also within my authority to grant."_

_"Finally, you may opt to play the game one more time." He surveyed Sora carefully. "You don't have the heart to become a reaper of course," he said to a still silent Sora, hoping to elicit some answer._

_Sora shook his head. "I'll play your game again. I'll play it as many times as it takes to get out of this place!"_

_Kariya looked down sadly. "There's only one catch, Sora. Playing again… may as well be erasure." He looked up. "Thanks to your efforts during the week, no untimely deaths occurred in Shibuya this week. You will not be able to find a partner. The third option was a façade, not truly an option at all."_

_"You will have seven minutes. I'd make good use of them, if I were you. Or, if it is your desire, it's not too late to change your mind. Could you live as a reaper?"_

_Sora summoned his Oblivion keyblade, and examined it carefully, as if letting it guide him. "If seven minutes is all that's offered to me…" he said, in almost a whisper. "Then seven minutes is what I'll take. Because I won't stay in Shibuya forever, stealing hope and life as you have chosen to do."_

_Kariya gave a sad, sympathetic smile, but said nothing._

* * * * * * * * * *

Seven minutes, once the mission mail arrived. Sora looked down glumly. He wondered if he had enough time to at least find Kairi once more, to say good bye.

Could he face her again, knowing that he had doomed himself?

"She'll understand," he said to himself. He owed it to her to say good bye, at least. Tears welled in his eyes. This was worse than he could've imagined. Knowing he didn't have long to live, knowing he was never going to feel anything again… knowing that it was his fault…

A tingling pain rushed through his hand, and the timer appeared. He didn't have a cell phone, as he hadn't had time to ever actually buy one, but he didn't need one. It didn't really matter. He heard the rustling sound of noise appearing. A frog appeared, a weak noise, weaker still than even a shadow heartless. But one he couldn't harm. He turned to run, knowing it was over. Could he find her, before he was erased?

A cry startled him from his thoughts. "Sora! Quickly! A pact!" a familiar voice cried. He felt a presence, trying to bond with his mind, and accepted it. Without thinking, he twisted, calling his keyblade, and leapt forward, destroying the frog that pursued him. He turned to his new partner, a young woman with long red hair, and a blue, black, red and gold outfit that resembled his own, carrying a wizard's relic staff that had, for so long, been held by the court magician of Disney Castle.

"K-Kairi!?" he gasped.

And Kairi it was. She smiled at him. "Hey, Sora!" she said brightly.

Sora felt his insides freeze. Kairi… no… she couldn't be…

"How did you get here?" asked Sora, fearing the answer.

Kairi laughed. "Don't worry, you lazy bum. I'm not dead," she reassured, still smiling.

* * * * * * * * * *

_The six of them, Kairi, Roxas, Neku, Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme raced down through the Shibuya train station. Within half an hour, they found the elaborate door, leading to the hidden Composer's office. This time, it was open._

_Inside sat Joshua, Mr. Hanekoma, and…_

"_Any fool can create a dream, my dreams shape reality!" boasted a very familiar man, last seen on Shibu-Q heads, defeated by an echo of himself._

"_Oh hello there, Neku," said Joshua, smirking at him. "Would you like a cup of tea? I'm afraid I don't have a coffee maker here."_

"_Hey Phones," said Mr. Hanekoma brightly._

_The rest filed into the room, and gaped at the strange sight._

"_Oh," said Joshua, as if he had just discerned the source of confusion. "May I introduce you to the new Conductor of Shibuya?"_

_Sho laughed._

_Neku shook his head. "That's not what we're here for," he said._

_Roxas took a step forward. "Where's Sora?"_

_Hanekoma gave an uneasy look towards Joshua, who sighed dramatically._

"_I warned him, did I not?"_

_Kairi felt cold. What happened? In her mind, Naminé echoed the same fears. "What… happened?" she asked aloud, fearing the answer._

"_Oh, he was a winner, of course. But the highest scoring player that survived was none other than Shuto Dan, whom you and Sora saved, by destroying that last noise in time. And, of course, by Sora stopping his ex-partner from erasing him."_

_Fear turned to anger as she understood. Sora may have won, but he would not be resurrected. "You… you're punishing him!? For not letting someone else die!? For not letting a 10 year-old be murdered!?" she shouted angrily._

_Joshua shook his head. "I'm afraid you would see it that way, but that is not the intent. The rules are clear. Only one life can be returned. And it seems Sora has declined the life of a reaper, as well, choosing instead to suffer another game."_

_A single tear dripped from Kairi's eyes, and the rest watched her silently. Of course he refused. That's what Sora was like. That's why she liked him. He wouldn't kill someone for his own sake. He just wasn't like that._

"_So he needs to play the game again?" asked Neku, breaking the silence._

_At this, Joshua looked saddened. "Yes, and no."_

"_No? What do you mean?" asked Roxas._

"_You letting him go, yo?" asked Beat. Rhyme nudged him, shaking her head, begging her brother to remain silent._

"_You and Sora are friends, are you not?" he asked of Roxas. Roxas wasn't sure how to answer. "It's a pity. Perhaps if you had taught him a bit of indifference… a bit of anger, he wouldn't be in such a predicament."_

"_Predicate?" asked Beat._

_Joshua just shook his head. "Despite the attack of the strange creatures, not a single person died before his or her time, throughout the past week. Thus, Sora will be playing this next game… alone."_

_Shiki gasped. "You can't! How can you make it without a partner!?"_

_Besides Joshua, Hanekoma shook his head. "He can't," the older man said. "His kindness has trapped him. When the game begins… he will have seven minutes." He looked at them all sorrowfully, in turn. "He will be at the Scramble. You should try to say good-bye to him, at least. A lonely erasure at the hands of the noise does not suit him the slightest."_

"_So… you're going to let him die? Just like that?" said Kairi. Tears fell steadily now, but there was a distinct edge to her voice._

"_I have no choice," said Joshua, holding his hands up high in surrender._

_Suddenly, Neku stepped forward, and walked to Joshua's side._

"_Yes, Neku?" asked Joshua. _

"_Let me in the game."_

"_Neku, we both know that players are chosen from the dead."_

_Suddenly, Neku reached down. He wrested a gun from a holster on Joshua's belt, one that resembled the one that had killed Sora when they had first arrived. He lifted it and pointed it as his own head._

"_Let me in the game," he repeated, as Shiki gasped loudly._

"_Neku, no!"_

"_Phones! Don't, man!"_

_But it was Roxas who acted. He dove forward, and in a fluid motion, twisted Neku's wrist and seized the weapon. "No. This is Sora you're talking about… he wouldn't stand for this." he said, casting the gun aside. He turned and stared menacingly at Joshua, who just chuckled. "Sora wouldn't even kill a stranger to save himself. Do you think he'd want a friend to end his own life?"_

"_Neku, even if you were dead, you would not be allowed to play," said Joshua, saving him from coming up with an answer._

"_Then let me in alive, as you entered the game, Joshua," said Neku, anger creeping into his voice. "But Sora isn't even from our world. He doesn't deserve to die, caught up in your silly game."_

_Joshua shrugged. "There are loopholes. I offered my own life as my entry fee. But the other rule is clear. He who returned from the RG before can not return to the UG. You can not play again, Neku, nor can Shiki, Beat, Rhyme, or even myself. Sora may not deserve this death, but there's really nothing more you or I can do for him."_

_Silence met his grim, but final, pronouncement. No one knew what to say to that. The words echoed in Kairi's mind, the tone of finality. But that wasn't it. There was also hope in his voice. The Composer wanted something._

_"Then let me in," said Kairi suddenly. The others all gasped, with the exception of Roxas, and of course, the Composer himself. And the Conductor, who was blissfully ignorant of the entire conversation, and cheerfully constructing a junk heap in the corner of the room._

_"Kairi, you can't!" Roxas said._

_She ignored him. "Let me play, Joshua."_

_Joshua laughed. "Your life is hardly what you value most."_

_She raised one eyebrow. "You already have Sora's life."_

_"True enough. Sho," said Joshua, turning to the reaper._

_"Yes, sir?" he said, mockingly. Conductor or not, he didn't seem as if he'd really respect Joshua. Ever._

_"There will be two players in your game. Also… an unnecessary reminder, I hope, but the Conductor can not write missions, nor be the Game Master. Koki Kariya will remain Game Master for this next week."_

_Sho laughed. "Alright then. But next time, I'm going all-out!"_

* * * * * * * * * *

Kairi smiled as she finished her story. "We'll be fine, Sora," she said. "Besides… this week can't be worse than last week. At least you don't have to put up with Pi-Face," she said with a giggle, using Neku's name for the math freak.

"You… gave your life as your entry fee… just to…" Sora couldn't even finish the sentence.

"Wouldn't you have?" said Kairi, tilting her head slightly.

Sora nodded. He couldn't argue with that. And he couldn't deny it, he was glad to see her. "It's dangerous, though."

"I'm safer here than I was before," Kairi shot back. "At least you're here too."

"There's nothing dangerous in the RG," Sora argued.

"Heartless?"

"Roxas is, well, was with you," Sora reminded.

"Oh yea. Roxas said he'd be taking the _Highwind_. He's going to tell Riku what's going on, and bring him here as well."

At this point, Sora realized there was really nothing to be gained by arguing. As usual, he would lose. Besides, selfless as he was, he didn't want to be erased.

"When Riku gets here, we'll both be free already," Sora promised at last. "Don't worry Kai, we'll be fine.

Kairi smiled. "I know we will." Suddenly, she reached into her pockets, searching for something. "Oh yea, I brought this for you. We bought it for you that one day, after you disappeared, but I never had a chance to give it to you." She handed him a cell phone, and pulled hers out as well.

"Reach 104. Take it easy. Don't get erased. You have four hours. Koki Kariya," the two of them read together. Sora looked down at the timer, which read 3:47:25.

"That's generous," Kairi said lightly. "104 is right there, isn't it?" Sora nodded, and the two headed off. A reaper standing near the wall nodded as the two approached.

"Pact confirmed. Go right ahead."

Once they arrived, the timer disappeared. "Now what?" asked Kairi.

"Maybe we should go find Neku or Shiki, let them know we're okay," suggested Sora.

"Okay," said Kairi. Sora had been to Shiki's house before but he didn't remember the path, so Kairi led the way across the city. "You know," she said as they were walking, "being in the Underground isn't really that bad. It's kind of strange when no one can see you though." She wrinkled her nose. "It's like we don't exist anymore, only we do."

"It's a little weird at first," said Sora, "but it's not that bad. At least you're here… I don't think I could live another week with Sho."

As they approached Shiki's house, the door flew open. Shiki, and a familiar blue-eyed girl with blonde hair and a simple white dress stepped out.

"Naminé!?" Sora gasped.

"I knew it!" said Kairi triumphantly. "Oh, I didn't sense her inside of me anymore. I guessed she was separated from me when Joshua sent me here," she explained, noting Sora's confused look.

"Bye mom!" Shiki called to her mother, as the two girls left.

"Do you really think Kairi will find us there?" asked Naminé, concerned.

"Sure. I told her we normally meet with Neku and the others at Hachiko," said Shiki, dismissively.

Naminé giggled. "Normally, she'd be fine."

"What's that supposed to mean?" protested Kairi, although Naminé couldn't hear her. However, like Roxas, Naminé could sense her nearby. She stopped.

"You're out there, aren't you, Kairi?" she asked.

"She's here?" asked Shiki. "How do you know?"

"I felt her nearby," Naminé answered simply.

"Why don't we just go down to Molco then? It's closer," Shiki suggested.

"Okay," said Naminé. "Meet us there, alright, Kairi?"

"Well, that went well," said Sora. "You two get along a lot better than I do with Roxas."

"That's because we're girls," said Kairi with a laugh.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora said indignantly.

"Nothing."

They reached Molco a few minutes later, and happened to meet up with Beat and Rhyme as well. Beat was looking at skateboards. Again.

"Yo Shiki!" he called, seeing the black-haired girl enter the mall. He paused for a moment, trying to remember the other girl's name. "Nam… err…"

"Naminé," she said kindly. She turned, and sure enough, Kairi and Sora stepped into the mall right behind her.

"You found him," Naminé said cheerfully. "Hey Sora, are you alright?"

"Yea, I'm fine," he said. Seeing Naminé made him nervous. On one hand, she reminded him an awful lot of Kairi… which was logical, seeing as she was Kairi's Nobody. On the other hand, there was something about her that was distinctly different. Naminé had hinted a few times that they met before, long before The World That Never Was, even that it had to do with why he was asleep for a year, but try as he might, he couldn't remember anything.

Then there was the fact that Jiminy Cricket's diary was empty except for two words, when Sora, Donald, and Goofy had awakened from the flowery pods. _Thank Naminé._ He remembered, after they had returned to the Islands, and thanked her. Of course, he felt like an idiot a moment later when he asked her whether she knew why he was thanking her.

"Did Roxas leave already?" asked Kairi. Naminé nodded wistfully.

"He left last night, once you disappeared, and I reappeared. He asked me to watch over you two," she said with a smile.

"How'd your first mission go, Kairi?" asked Rhyme kindly.

"Isn't the first mission just to go to 104?" said Shiki. "It couldn't have been too hard."

"It wasn't," said Sora.

"Sora, take a look at this skateboard, yo!" said Beat, holding up a skateboard. "More of CAT's work, yo!"

"Hey, that's neat!" said Kairi. The skateboard depicted Sora in his white, silver, and gold outfit, holding two keyblades. The artist's simple style seemed only to accentuate the piece. It really was a beautiful skateboard.

The six of them headed into the mall, where Beat immediately got caught up in a Tin Pin tournament. They visited a few more stores, but Kairi and Sora really didn't know what they could do with anything they bought, so Sora managed to convince Kairi to refrain from any shopping this time. That didn't stop Shiki, though, from buying a large sack full of various fabrics and such. "Your dress is too plain," she remarked to Naminé. "Maybe Eri can come up with something nice."

"You're really into sewing, aren't you?" asked Sora.

Shiki nodded quickly. "It's really fun! And it's great working with Eri, she's awesome with designs!"

"Oh yea, Sora!" said Kairi suddenly. "I forgot! Mr. Hanekoma told me to drop by when we could!"

Sora nodded. "Fine by me."

"We'll see you later, Shiki, Naminé," Kairi said to her friends.

"Say bye to Beat and Rhyme for us," Sora requested. After Naminé and Shiki promised to do so, Sora and Kairi left, heading towards Wildkat. "What does he wants us for?"

Kairi shrugged. "I don't know."

"Oh well. We'll find out soon enough," Sora said, as Wildkat came into view.

They had learned to ignore the closed sign by now. Kairi reached the door first and knocked.

"It's not locked," came Mr. H's voice, and they went in.

"Looks like you found him," Mr. Hanekoma said with a smile.

"Hey Mr. H," greeted Kairi. "You said you wanted to see us, right?"

"Uh-huh. How're you doing, Spikes?"

"Great," said Sora. "And umm… my name's Sora."

"What?"

"My name's Sora, not Spikes."

"Oh right," said Hanekoma, chuckling. "Sorry Spikes."

"He's doing this on purpose, isn't he?" Sora whispered to Kairi, who just giggled, amused at the sight of a flustered Sora.

"How 'bout a cup?" the café owner said, reaching for a pair of mugs."

"Umm, no thanks," said Kairi quickly.

"Really? How about some tea then?"

"Okay," Kairi said. "What about you, Sora?"

"Uhh, I'll just have a cup of tea too."

"Two cups of tea, coming right up," said Mr. Hanekoma. He passed the two cups of tea to them. "Did you give him the cell phone?" he asked.

Kairi nodded, sipping the warm tea slowly. Unlike Sora, who drank the entire mug of tea in a single gulp.

"Well, I can install a few features on your phone. I don't know if they'll be any help, but they might. I know they helped Phones."

"That'll be great, Mr. H," said Sora gratefully, appreciating the help. He handed his phone over, as did Kairi. "Give me a few minutes, alright?" said Mr. H, heading to the backroom where he kept his workshop.

"You know, I wonder who he really is," said Sora quietly.

"Why do you say that?" asked Kairi, concerned.

"I don't mean that in a bad way… he's really nice and all. But something's just not quite normal about him," said Sora. "Have you ever seen anyone in this café? How does he keep this place open, even?"

Kairi shrugged. "Maybe he's with the reapers." She thought about it. "I'm pretty sure he is, Sora. He spends a lot of time with Joshua…"

Sora frowned. "Joshua bothers me too."

Hanekoma returned soon after with the two cell phones, and a couple small booklets. "Here you go," he said, returning them to their owners. "If you need instructions, check the manual." He put the mugs away and wished them luck as they left.

As soon as they stepped out of the café, though, for both of them, the world seemed to fade away.


	12. Chapter 11: Noise of Anger

**Chapter 11: Day Two, Noise of Anger**

Sora leaned against the street post, tossing the crown pin into the air. Kairi was still asleep, and he certainly meant to rub it in when she awoke. But as their mission hadn't arrived yet, he wasn't too concerned. Rather, his thoughts turned to the pin. Could an ordinary pin, bought from the store, contain such power? Somehow, he doubted that.

Where did his new form come from, then? Kairi had said Joshua wanted him to have it, but he saw her purchasing it from the store. Unless Joshua had somehow imbued the pin with power.

Was Joshua the man cloaked in light? The Composer? Kairi said Joshua had looked to be about fifteen, but Sora could feel the power emanating from the silver haired boy. To make himself look different had to be an easy feat. Sora looked at the pin again. So the Composer was helping them. Joshua must have found the connection to Sora, in Kairi's heart, and drawn it out. After all, that's how Valor and Wisdom worked, drawing upon the connections between his heart and those of Goofy and Donald.

"Sora?" asked Kairi as she awoke, a few feet away.

"Hey Kai. What was that you always called me when I tried to sleep in?" Sora said, grinning evilly.

Kairi blushed a bit, and pretended not to hear. "Did the mission mail come yet?"

"No. Not yet." Sora tucked the pin back in his pocket. Interestingly enough, after the transformation into Destiny form, the pin had seemed drained. He wondered if the pin would be useful again. "Say, Kairi, you know that Joshua person?" Kairi nodded. "Do you think he could be the Composer?"

"That's what Neku said," said Kairi. "He's certainly not… normal, though."

"Really?"

"I don't know how to describe it, but he's just different. So is Mr. Hanekoma."

Sora silently agreed. Both the Composer and Hanekoma just seemed different from ordinary people. Something was strange about them.

Their phones rang as the mission mails were received. "Find and erase the source of the curse, which plagues he who braved the game of death thrice. You have four hours. Fail, and face erasure," Sora read aloud. He and Kairi looked up simultaneously.

"Neku?" they said together.

"Has to be," said Sora.

"Curse? I wonder what that means," said Kairi, worried.

"We better find him quick then," said Sora.

"Where will we find him?" Kairi asked, pointing out the obvious hole in the plan.

"Why don't we find Shiki? She should know."

Kairi agreed and the two set off across the city, towards Shiki's home. On the way, they noticed a dejected looking Beat, sitting on a bench with his sister Rhyme.

"I know, yo!" Beat whined, trying to ignore his younger sister.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have teased him that much," said Rhyme impatiently. "Still… it's strange that he snapped like that. Are you sure you didn't say anything else to him?"

"No way, yo! I didn't say nothing mean!"

Rhyme sighed. "Maybe he's just in a bad mood."

"Sora, do you think they're talking about… Neku?" asked Kairi.

"Maybe," said Sora. He walked a round a bit, looking for some way to alert the siblings to his presence.

"I don't think that'll work, Sora," said Kairi, suppressing a laugh, as Sora jumped up and down in front of Beat. "Come on, let's go to Shiki's."

"Fine. But how would we talk to her?"

"I left her the Reaper's Knell," said Kairi.

"Good thinking," said Sora appreciatively. "Let's go."

The two reached Shiki's house, and knocked. The door opened, revealing the dimly lit room. It seemed strangely empty without a nobody snoozing on the floor.

"Kairi?" she asked uncertainly, as the players were invisible. The reaper's knell rang.

"Naminé!" Shiki called.

"Yes?" came Naminé's voice from above. When she descended the staircase, she noted Kairi's presence. "Oh hey, Kairi!"

"I'm going with them down to the pizzeria down the street okay? Tell Eri I'll be right back."

"Alright," said Naminé. With that Shiki grabbed her coat and headed out, followed by Kairi and Sora.

"What's up?" Shiki asked, as they stepped into the pizzeria with a Reaper's Decal.

Sora and Kairi read the mission mail to her. "I think it means Neku," said Sora.

Shiki looked a bit strange. "What kind of curse is it?" she said, worried.

Kairi shook her head. "We don't know."

"But we saw Beat and Rhyme earlier. They were talking about how someone yelled at Beat… maybe Neku?"

Shiki bit her lip. "I'll go tell Naminé," she said. "Follow me after, alright?" She returned to her house, and ran upstairs to where Naminé and Eri were.

"Naminé, Eri, something bad might have happened to Neku," said Shiki, worried. "I'm going to go look for him, alright?

"Something bad? What do you mean?" asked Naminé, worried.

"I don't know," said Shiki. "But... Beat said there was something strange about him" she said, improvising.

"Good luck," said Eri. "Are you sure you'll be able to find him?"

Shiki nodded confidently. "I know all his secret haunts," she said with a wink. "He can't hide from us."

The three left shortly after, heading towards Shibu-Q heads. They stopped in front of the mall, where the reaper decal the taboo Sho had drawn was still visible. "Neku spends a lot of time just looking at the graffiti Mr. Hanekoma draws," she explained, as her two friends re-appeared.

"Mr. Hanekoma draws those?" Kairi asked, surprised.

"Uh-huh. Neku and Beat really like his work. You saw Beat with those skateboards…"

"But I thought Beat said someone named CAT drew those," said Sora. "Wait… Mr. Hanekoma is CAT?"

Shiki nodded. "He signs his work as CAT. Almost everyone in Shibuya's heard of him, but most don't even know what he looks like." This only reconfirmed Sora's belief that something was amiss about Hanekoma. Running a café that barely does business, the most trendy artist in town, who very people know by name, and in touch with reapers? And the Composer?

"Hey look, it's Neku!" Kairi said suddenly. Shiki and Sora turned, and indeed it was. Neku sat, alone on the bench, near the backstreets. As they approached, they left the range of the de-cal, and Sora and Kairi disappeared.

"Neku!" Shiki called.

"What do you want?" said Neku with a scowl. Kairi and Sora looked at each other in surprise. As reserved as he usually was, he had never been rude… especially not to Shiki.

Shiki was evidently taken aback as well. "Neku? Are you alright?"

"Of course," the boy said roughly. "I'm fine. Don't you have something better to do, Stalker?"

Shiki looked as though she had been slapped, and was on the verge of tears. "Neku," she said, in almost a whisper. "What happened to you?"

Neku looked up. A shadow crossed his face. "I'm… I'm sorry," he said. "I just need some time alone." With that, he stood and walked up the street, heading towards the mural.

Shiki walked back to Shibu-Q heads, stunned.

"Shiki," began Kairi comfortingly.

Shiki shook her head. "He wasn't himself. He hasn't been like this since…"

"Don't worry, Shiki. We'll handle this," Sora promised.

"Will you be alright?" asked Kairi. Shiki nodded.

The two players rushed down after Neku, and found him further down the street, leaning against the mural, rather than looking at it. As they watched, Neku lifted two small pieces of paper from his pocket.

"What an idiot," he grumbled to himself. "She didn't deserve that…" He looked at the two pieces of paper. "I don't deserve this," he said, tossing the papers to the ground.

Sora bent down to look at the paper. It was a ticket. "Def Märch, live! A-East Stage, 10:00 PM to midnight!" it read.

"A ticket to a concert?" he asked, confused.

Kairi gasped. "Two tickets? He… was he going to as Shiki out?"

"Funny way to ask someone out," said Sora with a grimace. "Calling them a stalker? And running away?"

"Look at him," Kairi said. "He doesn't really seem like himself…"

"Good point, Kai. Maybe something Beat said really got to him."

"Let's go see if we can find Beat?" Sora nodded in agreement and the two turned back. Fortunately, they didn't need to go far, as Beat and Rhyme were at Shibu-Q heads with Shiki, who was crying softly.

"Hey Beat, Rhyme!" called Sora and Kairi together.

"Yo!"

"Beat, what did you say to Neku earlier?" Sora asked.

"Nothing, man! I was just teasing him and he goes crazy, yo!" said Beat.

"Teasing him about what?" asked Kairi. Could this be the answer?"

Beat's face flushed with embarrassment. "Nothing important, yo," he muttered, glancing at Shiki.

Kairi knelt by Shiki's side. "Don't worry Shiki," she said. "We'll find out what's wrong with Neku."

"Yo um… Sora, can we talk inside?" asked Beat.

Sora nodded, and headed into the building.

"Man, what's wrong with phones, yo? I was teasing him about him and Shiki, you know, but I always do that. He's never flipped out before, yo!" he explained when they were alone.

"You were teasing him about Shiki? What did you say?" asked Sora urgently.

"Just that they made a cute couple, yo! I've even said it to him before!"

Sora pondered that for a moment. Could this be why Neku was so upset? But the mission mail mentioned a curse… how could Beat be considered a curse? And would a mission mail really ask him to erase Beat? Something was wrong. Noise, maybe? Could noise really change a person's behavior just like that?

"Thanks, Beat," Sora muttered, heading back outside. "C'mon Kairi."

"Sora?" Kairi asked. "Did Beat tell you anything important?"

Sora shook his head. "No, but I think I know what might be the problem." The two headed back where Neku was, and Sora lifted out his player pin. "Noise," he said.

Kairi drew her player pin from her pocket as well, and held it up. Sure enough, a strange, blue, shapeless noise hung against the wall, and a handful of noises, resembling crabs, surrounded the depressed boy.

Sora nodded and raised his keyblade. As he did so, the noise turned towards the keyblade master.

"So we just have to get rid of these, right?"

Kairi held up her staff, and loosed a bolt of fire, burning away the first crab, as Sora dove towards the second. With a measured swipe, he knocked the crab's claw aside. He reversed his grip, turned, and stabbed it, finishing it off, before sending his keyblade into a spin to slay a third. An icicle soared through the air past Sora, striking and holding the fourth, which Sora cleaved neatly in two.

The blue, shapeless noise then shifted into a humanoid figure. Sora backed away cautiously.

A moment later, the noise had taken on the shape of a teenage boy with a black skull beanie, a white muscle shirt, and yellow shorts. He had a pair of Reaper's wings and stood astride a skateboard, which floated several feet in the air. In his hand he clutched a handful of pins.

"The beat is on!" cried the noise, lunging forward. As he did so, he turned, and the skateboard floated up at an awkward angle, slamming towards Sora's face.

"Beat!?" asked Sora incredulously, blocking the attack. Reaper Beat rode his skateboard in an aerial back-flip, then zoomed forward for another strike, punching out with his muscled arm. Sora narrowly avoided the powerful punch.

"Sora, it can't be Beat, it was a noise!" Kairi reminded urgently, pointing her staff at the noise, which emitted a stream of fire.

"Dumb ass!" the noise cried, dodging the spell, in a somersault, propelling himself, skateboard first at Kairi. Sora intercepted the attack with his keyblade, before swinging Oblivion overhead, slamming reaper Beat in the chest, and knocking him to the ground.

The two traded blows, Sora striking with his keyblade, and the noise blocking with his skateboard. After several moments, Sora's blade was caught on the wheels of Beat's surprisingly sturdy skateboard. Beat twisted his skateboard, sending Oblivion flying from Sora's grasp. Then he spun, swiping the makeshift weapon at Sora's head.

A bolt of lightning rained down, stunning him mid strike, as Sora called Oblivion back to his hand. Kairi then launched a shard of ice, holding the noise in place, and Sora attacked ferociously, scoring a dozen minor hits. Reaper Beat recoiled, then suddenly launched himself forward in a powerful tackle. Oblivion pounded the noise on the shoulder, but it wasn't enough to stop Beat, who barreled into Sora, sending him careening towards the wall.

"Come back when you grow a pair!" Beat taunted. Suddenly, he fell to the ground, as Kairi unleashed a gravity spell on him. "Now, Sora!" Kairi shouted. Sora leapt to his feet, called Oblivion, leapt forward and stabbed, erasing the deranged noise.

As the noise faded away, the timers on their palms faded. Sora's shoulder still ached from slamming into the wall.

"At least we won," said Kairi, stepping closer.

"Yea… that wasn't too bad." The two turned to Neku.

Rather than anger, his face now showed only remorse. "I'm an idiot," he grumbled. "It wasn't her fault…" He looked at the two tickets on the ground, sadly. "I guess it wasn't really Beat's either," he admitted to himself. He reached over and picked up the tickets. He looked at them a moment longer before putting them in his pocket. "I'd better apologize, at least," he said.

"He must feel terrible," said Sora, looking at their friend sympathetically.

"I hope everything turns out alright…" said Kairi.

"Let's follow and see," suggested Sora, and the two followed Neku back to Shibu-Q heads. Unfortunately, neither Shiki, nor Beat and Rhyme were there.

"They must have left," said Sora, forgetting that they were in range of the reaper decal. Neku turned, surprised.

"Oh hey, Sora," he said.

"Are you looking for Shiki?" asked Kairi.

"Yea… wait, how did you two know about that?" He thought about it for a moment. "Have you two been following me all day?"

Sora shook his head. "No, we were with Shiki until we heard you two argue."

Neku flinched. "Yea… sorry you had to see that. I don't know what I was thinking."

"It's not your fault, Neku," said Kairi. "You had noise following you. They were coming from the CAT mural."

"You erased them, huh?" Neku stated, more than asked. "Still, that's hardly an excuse."

"Just apologize to her," said Sora. "I'm sure she'll understand."

Neku grimaced. "Have you ever gotten Kairi really, really mad?" he asked with a small smile.

"No way!" Sora said, just as Kairi said "Of course he has." The two looked at each other.

"When?" Sora demanded.

"When you stabbed yourself with a keyblade, maybe?" asked Kairi.

"That made you mad!?"

"Of course!"

Neku laughed. "Really, Sora? You stabbed yourself with that key thing?" His laughter died away, as he pulled out the two concert tickets. "Well, I guess I'd better go find Shiki and apologize…"

"It'll be fine, Neku," Kairi reassured. "Shiki was really worried about you."

"Thanks," said Neku, and he started off. Kairi made to follow, but Sora reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Kairi… I'm sorry."

"For what?" she asked, confused.

"You know… for the whole stabbing myself in the keyblade thing."

"Oh that," said Kairi with a giggle. "I was kidding, Sora."

"Really?"

"Really."

Sora smiled, seeming a lot happier than he was a moment ago, and the two headed off, hand in hand.

* * * * * * * * * *

The three of them arrived at Shiki's home a few minutes later, Sora and Kairi invisible. Neku walked up the steps and knocked lightly. Again, it was Shiki who answered the door.

"Hello?" she said, as she opened the door. "N-Neku?" she said, seeing the boy standing before her, looking slightly nervous. "Are you alright?"

"Sorry," Neku mumbled. "About earlier… I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay. Rhyme told me that Beat was… well, being Beat," she finished, blushing slightly.

"Still. I shouldn't have gotten so angry."

"Well, I…" started Neku. Then he stopped, seeming unable to finish the sentence.

"Yes?"

"I… umm…" It made Shiki and Kairi both smile, seeing Neku so nervous. "Here," he finally said, holding out the tickets. "I was hoping you'd like to… well, you know," he finished. He seemed to have a hard time speaking at all. Kairi looked at the tickets, surprised. "Neku… really? These tickets must have cost a fortune," she stammered. Def Märch was her favorite band, and the most popular band in Shibuya at the moment.

"So… what do you say?" asked Neku nervously.

Before Kairi and Sora could hear Shiki's answer though, the world darkened, signifying the end of the second day.


	13. Chapter 12: Kariya's Wager

**Chapter 12: Day Three, Kariya's Wager**

"Sora, wake up already!"

Sora groaned and sat up. To his surprise, it wasn't the sight of the Scramble Crossing which greeted him, but Cadoi City street. "Did the mission come already?"

"Nope," said Kairi. "It should get here any minute, though."

"What did Shiki say yesterday?" asked Sora, yawning.

Kairi shrugged. "I didn't hear."

Their phones rang, and timers appeared on their hands. "The mission's here," said Kairi, lifting hers. "Reaper Sport 2: Hide and Seek. You have five hours. Instructions will be enclosed in the following mail. Fail, and face erasure."

"Following mail?" asked Sora, just as the phone rang again.

"Hello Sora, Kairi. I apologize for the confusion. Today's mission is not Reaper Sport 2. The mission mail is sent to all the reapers as well, and, well, you know how Uzuki is. Anyways, today's real mission is to help me win a bet with the Conductor. I left the puzzle in your pocket, one that a reaper said you've completed one before, Sora. As for the hide and seek… well, the game ends when either you get erased by noise, or when you find the winner's pin. The pin is on the doorstep of your friend, Shiki's, house, as well as a reaper creeper. Players are forbidden from hiding in buildings, but since we're not really playing, the rules don't matter. Good luck. The Conductor will be buying me Ramen tomorrow. Oh yeah, you have a ten minute head start."

Sora looked up at Kairi, gaping. "Seriously?"

"What's the puzzle?" asked Kairi.

Sora reached into his pocket and produced a small cube, each side broken into 9 smaller squares, with multiple colors. Sora groaned. "Is he serious?"

"It can't be that bad," said Kairi, reaching for the cube. "What do you do?"

"Just make all the sides each the same color…" said Sora, shaking his head. "It's impossible, Kairi." What was Kariya playing at? It was Sho was solved this blasted thing, not him.

"That's easy, Sora," said Kairi with a smile. She took it and spun it a few times, completing one side. Then she began working on the second side, becoming increasingly frustrated as it messed up the first. After about five minutes, Sora mustered the courage to interrupt.

"Kairi, shouldn't we take Kariya's advice and get to Shiki's house? This might take more than ten minutes."

Kairi nodded, without taking her eyes off the cube, and followed Sora, as he led the way to Shiki's house. They knocked, and Shiki let them in.

"Kairi? Sora?" she asked sleepily. Instead of ringing the bell, though, Kairi strode across the room to where a small silver pin lay on the table, as well as a piece of paper and a token. She lifted the pin. Shiki turned and noticed the pin missing. "Are you two here?" she asked.

"Yes," said Naminé, from the foot of the staircase. "They're here."

"Let's go down to the pizzeria so we can talk, okay?" suggested Shiki. Kairi glanced at Sora.

"Our ten minutes is up," said Sora. "If we leave, we'll have reapers and noise on us everywhere."

"We should stay here," Kairi agreed. "Wait, Sora, this is the winner's pin. We won already…"

"Would the Reapers know that? Besides, that's not the real mission… we still have our timers."

Kairi pondered that for a moment. "Good point," she said. "But how do we tell Shiki that?"

"Naminé will," Kairi said, smiling. Naminé was already deep in thought. Evidently, she could still feel Kairi's thoughts, to some degree.

"I don't think Kairi and Sora want to meet you at the Pizzeria," Naminé said to Shiki.

Shiki closed the door again. "Well, maybe they have to do with why someone put a reaper creeper in front of my house, and this strange pin," she said, walking over to the table. She spread the mat, which was a tan color, except for three circles, one black, one red, and one white. "Kairi? Sora? If you're still here, move this token to the red circle, alright?" she said, placing the token in the middle.

Kairi shrugged and reached over, sliding the token to red.

"Did you want to meet somewhere else? Move it to black if you do, move it to white if you don't."

Sora shifted it to white.

"Did you want to stay here?" Move it to black if you do, move it to red if you don't."

The token slid to black.

"Okay then," said Shiki. "Talking through this is a hassle," she said to Naminé, who agreed.

"Well, that's settled," said Sora. "Now what?"

Kairi looked down upon the puzzle again. "There's no use, this thing's impossible," she moaned. She had finally solved two sides, only to find that solving a third was even harder. She handed it to Sora.

"It's not actually impossible," he admitted. "I saw Sho do it in only a few seconds." He began to spin the blocks around, until one side was all blue. He examined it carefully, realizing that it wasn't enough: he had to line up the edges as well, since each little cube had either two or three sides, barring the center one.

He shifted them around a bit, noting that the centers didn't change, relative to each other. Finally, he had the blue side complete, with the red, orange, yellow, and white edges fixed as well. Now what? Sora took a close look at the white side, then began to spin the blocks again.

After about five spins, half of the white side was complete, and the blue side had been ruined. He tried to retrace his steps, but failed, putting him back to square one.

"I can't believe this guy," Sora complained, dropping the cube back on the table. "This thing is impossible for anyone not Sho."

"Well, we have to solve it," said Kairi, worried.

The two sat there, stumped.

"Maybe Neku knows how to solve it?" Kairi offered.

"I doubt it."

"Well, we can't just sit here and do nothing," Kairi said.

Sora sighed. "Alright, let's ask Shiki to see if she knows anything… or anyone who can help."

Kairi walked upstairs, where she found Naminé and Shiki playing card games on Shiki's bed. She reached over and rang the reaper's knell. Shiki leapt up, and ran downstairs, Naminé right behind her.

"Sora? Kairi? Did you need something?" she said, approaching the table where the Reaper Creeper mat lay.

Sora looked at her. "Kai, I think we should meet her at the pizzeria. It'll take too much time to talk with this."

Kairi nodded. "We'll just have to beat any reaper's and noise that attack us then," she said. Truthfully, she wasn't that scared of ordinary noise. Sora was with her. She shifted the token to black, hoping black still meant yes.

"Why don't we go down to Molco instead? Then maybe Neku or Beat could help, if they were there."

"I doubt Beat would be too helpful," Sora said, chuckling. Kairi moved the small token to the center, then back to black, and Shiki nodded.

"Wait, Shiki, what if black means no now?" asked Naminé.

"It means yes, doesn't it?" asked Shiki.

Kai looked at Sora. "How exactly am I supposed to answer that?"

"Just move it to black again," he said with a goofy grin. Kairi reached over and pounded him on the shoulder. She didn't have any better ideas, though, so she moved it off and back onto black.

"See?" said Shiki triumphantly. "Let's go." Naminé sighed. Shiki rushed out the front door, but Naminé held back for a moment, trying to decipher Kairi's thoughts.

"I think Beat's rubbing off on Shiki," said Kairi with a worried look, as the two ran off to Molco.

* * * * * * * * * *

The reapers had all returned, as the moment Kairi had touched the pin, Kariya had sent out a mail, announcing that the players had won. Uzuki, predictably, was more than a little bit annoyed. "How could they have won already!?"

"I guess my hiding spot was a bit obvious," Kariya admitted.

"That's not fair! The bet's off!" Uzuki complained.

"Hey, you didn't say I had to hide it carefully. They got it before the first 30 minutes were up. That was the bet, wasn't it?" the Game Master said.

"He's got a point, Yashiro," one of the other reaper participants, a bass reaper, said.

"Well, at least we get the rest of the day off," said a baritone reaper. The two flew off, and the rest, except for Uzuki and Kariya, followed.

"Oh alright then," Uzuki said. "But I'm not falling for this again!" she stormed off towards Ken Doi's Ramen Don.

"Great," said Kariya, a wide smile on his face. "Two bowls of Ramen with one mission." He, too, left.

As long as Shiki and Sora stayed at Shiki's house, it would be fine.

* * * * * * * * * *

Sora groaned as they stepped into Molco. Neku was nowhere in sight, although Rhyme and Beat were sitting on a bench near the tin pin competition counter. A large sign indicated that a tournament just ended less than half an hour ago.

"Kairi! Sora!," said Naminé, as she gave Kairi and Sora each a quick hug.

"Hey Kairi, Sora! What's up?" asked Shiki brightly.

Sora and Kairi proceeded to explain the situation to them, and Beat and Rhyme who had walked over. They started with the mission mail, went on to explain about the second mail they received. They told them about reaching Shiki's house, and Kariya's warning.

"So yea, we were supposed to stay put, to remain safe," said Sora.

"That makes sense," said Shiki.

"But why are you here now, yo?" asked Beat.

Kairi bit back an angry response and simply handed him the puzzle. "We can't solve it."

"Yo! I've seen this before! It's cool, yo!" Beat said, as he spun the Rubik's cube wildly. Rhyme, sitting on the bench besides him, giggled.

"I've seen one of those," said Shiki. "It was a few weeks ago, Neku and I saw it at 104. Neku spent half an hour trying to solve it."

"Speaking of Neku… what happened yesterday?" Sora asked curiously. Kairi elbowed him but it was too late.

"Yesterday?" asked Shiki, stifling a yawn.

Ignoring Kairi, Sora went on. "We fell asleep right after Neku showed you the tickets, what did you say?" Kairi groaned.

Shiki turned pink, but before she could say anything, Naminé cut in. "She went, of course. She didn't get back until one in the morning… why do you think she's so tired today?" she said, with a innocent smile.

"Naminé!" Shiki protested.

The nobody held her hands up innocently. "It's true, isn't it?" she said, smiling. "Really, how was it, though?"

Shiki looked over to make sure Beat wasn't listening. He teased Neku enough, already. Thankfully, the boy was still fully absorbed in the puzzle. "It was fun," she admitted quietly. "You know Neku, though. He didn't talk a whole lot. He did seem to enjoy the concert too."

"Of course he did. You were there," Kairi said.

A loud cheer from Beat cut into their conversation. "I got it, yo!"

They turned, as one, to see Beat holding the puzzle in the air. Evidently, his definition of solved was quite different from everyone else's. "See? This side's all green and red now, yo!" At his side, Rhyme smiled sheepishly at them.

Sora groaned. "Thanks, Beat. I don't think this is the solution Kariya had in mind." He reached for the cube.

"Let me try," said Rhyme, holding out her hands. Sora shrugged and gestured towards her, and Beat handed the cube to his younger sister.

They watched in silence as Rhyme carefully spun it, fixing only 4 of the squares on top. She then proceeded to work on the faces, until five smaller cubes were in place, forming a white, green, and red 2x2 cube. She expanded it, fixing the orange face as well. Then she twirled several sides around, seemingly messing it up. She examined it, pursing her lips in a pensive expression.

Sora sighed. "Well, thanks for trying," he said, reaching for the cube again. As he extended his hand, Rhyme's nimble fingers suddenly twirled a side, then another. She flipped the cube over, spun the top side, then the right, rotated it once more, and with a flick of her wrist, slid the last row in place. She placed the completed cube into Sora's outstretched hand.

"That was incredible!" said Shiki and Kairi together.

Beat looked confused. "Why'd you do that, yo? That looks strange."

Rhyme smiled. "Neku bought that cube," she said to Shiki. "He gave up after a week, and gave it to me. It's not that hard, really," she said modestly. "It came with instructions, anyways." She stood up. "Come on, Beat! You promised mom we'd be home in time for dinner, remember? It's dad's birthday."

"Yo, that's right!" Beat said, jumping to his feet. "Gotta bounce, man!" he said, patting Sora on the shoulder before jumping on the skateboard and skating out of the mall.

"Thanks Rhyme!" called Sora, as the siblings left.

Kairi was examining the completed cube, still wondering how it was possible.

"Well, we'd better get back to my place then, if the reapers are still looking for you," said Shiki. Sora and Kairi nodded, and followed Shiki back. Shiki and Naminé returned upstairs to their card game, while Sora and Kairi relaxed on the couch downstairs.

"Three days done, already," said Sora.

"Roxas and Riku should be back soon," Kairi remarked. "It should only take a day to reach Destiny Islands." As far as the two of them knew, Riku was confident he'd be back to the Islands before summer vacation was over.

"Yea. Riku's probably not too happy, with us two skipping school and all," said Sora. He wasn't really looking forward to going back to school, having been away from school for two years now.

"Well, at least we have a good excuse," said Kairi.

"I'm going to get some more sleep," said Sora, stretching and laying down.

"Lazy bum," said Kairi, with a smile. "Good night, Sora," she whispered, more quietly.

She watched Sora sleep, peacefully, for a whole ten minutes. Then, she too, laid down and closed her eyes.

Kariya recalled them within an hour, but both were already dozing peacefully.

* * * * * * * * *

"Zetta clever," Sho congratulated. "Tomorrow then? T = 12:00 PM?"

Kariya grinned. "You got it."

Really, the Conductor was impressed. As lazy as the Game Master was, he had to admit, he was a genius too. Of course, he knew Kariya hadn't really solved it… but that didn't really matter. Besides, a few hundred yen was a small price to pay for such entertainment as watching his Spikes, Spike's girlfriend, and Skulls struggle over the cube.

Even while Skulls Jr. solved the cube, he had continued to mutter, "So zetta slow," while pulling more cubes from his pocket, and solving them. A nice stack of cubes formed a heap on his desk, arranged carefully.

Sho laughed. He had to admit, although the idea of working for Joshua didn't appeal to him quite as much as simply being the Composer, the Conductor's life was a zetta good one. It even added to his arts and crafts time, and raised it to the second power. Through a simple psyche, Sho opened a small scrying portal, through which he surveyed his creations. Others saw them as garbage, but the world was made of garbage. The trick was finding an equation of beauty, which of course, he had done.

Towering in front of the Wildkat Café was a triad of his sculptures, great heaps of abandoned debris, in their magnificent geometrical splendor.

Yes. The Conductor's life was indeed zetta good life.


	14. Chapter 13: Taboo

**Chapter 13: Day Four, Taboo**

Sora awoke early the next morning, after a good night's sleep for once. He was back in Scramble Crossing, but this time, he was on the bench in front of a nearby store. He turned and noticed Kairi was leaning against him, still sleeping peacefully. He tried to stay perfectly still, so as to not disturb her.

A few minutes later, their phones rang, startling her awake. "Oh, sorry Sora!" she said, quickly sitting up straight.

"Don't worry about it," said Sora, lifting his phone. "Free the sculptures of Cat Street from noise. You have thirty minutes. Fail, and you owe me a bowl of Ramen."

"Cat Street? Isn't that where Wildkat is?" asked Kairi.

"I think so," said Sora. "But thirty minutes? That's not very long… we'd better hurry." The two of them hurried off towards Mr. Hanekoma's café. To there surprise, in front of Wildkat, there were three massive piles of garbage, towering high up into the sky. Hanekoma himself was outside, examining something on the wall.

The three sculptures were crawling with noise.

"Sora!" Kairi cried as three of the frogs on the closest sculptures leapt towards the keyblade master. Sora was more than ready, though. He summoned his keyblade, delayed a split second for the noise to close in, then swung thrice in quick succession, each blow knocking a frog away. He leapt forward, thrusting the blade into the nearest frog, erasing it. Kairi launched a bolt of fire, burning away one of the frogs as it struggled back to its feet. The last frog sucked in the air around him, and released a cloud of bubbles.

Sora jumped back from the attack, and a massive bear-like noise leapt from the top of the heap, landing before him. It smashed its claws downwards in a forward blow, which Sora easily turned aside with his keyblade. Sora back-flipped away from the noise, and summoned a ring of fire around himself, just as the bear charged again. To his surprise, the bear shrugged off the flames. Sora again drew Oblivion upwards to block, but the powerful sidelong swipe sent the keyblade master flying to the side. Mid-flight, Sora suddenly twisted, and landed neatly on his feet.

A stream of hailstones the size of fists pelted the bear, followed by a shower of icicles, as Kairi unleashed a barrage of blizzard magic. The bear held its paws across its face defensively, and roared in anger. As it was distracted, Sora dashed forward, closing the gap between him and his target. The bear rose in time to swipe at him, but Sora had already began swinging in a wild frenzy. Oblivion flared with light of multiple colors, as Sora struck the noise again and again, finally finishing with a jump into the air, and unleashing a furious rain of magic to finish the noise.

Sora turned in time to see the remaining frog pelting at him. He spun and flicked Oblivion into the air, as he tried to dive aside, knowing he was too late. He shouldn't have worried. A thin bolt of lightning flashed and erased the noise.

He turned and flashed Kairi a grateful smile, who only screamed, "Look out!" Two noises, shaped like wolves, raced out from behind the last sculpture, charging at him with fangs bared, while a strange ribbon like object uncurled from around the stand for an abandoned satellite dish, halfway up the sculpture.

Sora fired a blast of ice, which struck the first wolf, and shattering into more shards. The smaller pieces of ice showered the two wolves, freezing patches of their fur. The two wolves shook their heads, growling menacingly, before charging once more. Sora and Kairi each fired another stream of flame, erasing both noises.

The ribbon suddenly dove out of the sky. It was a flying serpent noise, of some sort. It curled as it approached, and began spinning, as if it were a tornado. Sora leapt to the side at the last minute, barely avoiding the noise's unusual attack.

Kairi wasn't so fortunate. The flying serpent collided with her straight on, as the fire spell she tossed bounced off harmlessly. As it reached her, it twirled around her, trapping her in it's coils. Its head lunged downwards, aiming straight at Kairi's exposed neck.

"No!" cried Sora. He flung his keyblade, which brushed right past Kairi, striking the serpent between the jaws He felt power building with him, tugging at his heart, wanting to be set free. He let the power flow through him.

At the same time, Kairi experienced a rushing sensation from her heart as well. Light suddenly burst from both of them, and the serpent was flung from Kairi's body. Both Sora and Kairi felt themselves lifting into the air. When the light faded, they each held a pair of Oathkeeper keyblades, and their clothing had changed to a shimmering combination of white, silver, and gold once more. The serpent reared to attack again, and Kairi rushed forward, keyblades spinning wildly.

Unfortunately, she wasn't quite accustomed to fighting with two blades at once. After two solid strikes, the two keyblades clashed and she lost her grip on one, which hovered in the air, waiting for her to reclaim it. Sora rushed past her, setting his twin blades into motion, and soon, the serpent fell to the ground, in pieces.

"Sorry, Sora," Kairi mumbled. "I guess I'm not too used to using keyblades."

"Don't worry about it," said Sora, gliding to her side. "It's not your fault. Just focus on one of the blades first, and use the other one only when you need it. When you get better, using them both will come naturally."

A loud shriek drew their attention, and the two turned in time to see six vultures diving towards them. Sora immediately soared forwards, his blades slicing through the air once more, keeping the vultures at bay. He then deftly lowered one blade slightly, creating a false opening for the vultures to strike from. One of them took the bait, and struck, and was immediately struck down by the other keyblade.

Kairi, taking Sora's advice to heart, leapt forward, attacking with only one keyblade. Although inferior in swordplay to both Riku and Sora, she was more than capable of holding her own against the mindless noise. She slipped to the side so that her blades wouldn't clash with Sora's, and two of the noise followed her. She felt more comfortable with the blade in her right hand, so she held that one before her, and the other Oathkeeper at her side. A vulture dipped, and soared towards her, talons outstretched. She neatly smashed it in the chest. The other took the opportunity to strike, but Kairi reversed her blade, then stabbed it, causing the remaining vulture to spiral out of the way. Reflexively, her left hand swung, bringing the other Oathkeeper up and striking down the second vulture.

Still battling the remaining three vultures, Sora continued to maintain the spinning rhythm, never giving the noise an opportunity to strike. Sora finally finished by dropping to the ground and stabbing both keyblades into the ground. As they touched the ground, a dozen keyblades forged from light erupted from the ground in a ring around him, shooting upwards and erasing all three vultures.

The timers disappeared from their hands as Sora and Kairi turned to survey their handiwork. Mr. Hanekoma still stood by the wall, muttering, and examining a design.

"I wonder what's wrong," said Sora, watching the café owner.

"Mr. Hanekoma? Is something wrong?" asked Kairi, approaching the café owner.

"Kairi, he can't see us outside," Sora began to say. Then he remembered, that wasn't entirely true. The unusual barista had seen them in front of 104…

Regardless, Hanekoma hadn't noted their presence. He seemed occupied by the phone he held in his hand. In front of him was a strange black and white design.

Sora gasped. "Isn't that… the taboo noise thing?" Kairi backed away from Hanekoma, closer to Sora, inwardly thankful that the drive form had not faded and she still held the twin Oathkeeper keyblades.

Hanekoma finally turned around. "Hey. Finish your mission already?" Kairi nodded hesitantly, but Sora wasn't so easily distracted.

"Mr. H, isn't that the pattern that creates taboo noise?" Mr. Hanekoma nodded grimly.

"Behold the handiwork of our new Conductor," he said, first gesturing towards the sigil, then the piles of garbage. "Sho is the only one that knows how to draw these, besides myself."

Suddenly, Mr. H lifted his hand. A stream of light shot from it, between Sora and Kairi. The two spun to see a Neo Shadow melting away.

"Heartless!" cried Sora, turning, as three more of the Neo Shadows rose from the ground. He glided towards them, still in his drive, and slashed his keyblades right through two of them. The heartless were completely unharmed.

"You can't harm then, remember?" reminded Kairi. Sora nodded, and moved closer to the café, thinking to lure the heartless inside, where the decal would make them visible, and hopefully capable of killing the heartless. The heartless could not sense those in the UG though, and instead made a beeline for the café owner, standing by the sigil.

"Rest in peace," a slightly effeminate male voice came from above. Sora and Kairi turned to see Joshua hovering, ten feet in the air. He brought his arms across his chest, and swung them downwards, diagonally. A ray of light fell from the sky, eliminating the three heartless.

"You're here, Josh," Mr. Hanekoma said.

"Mr. H!" came a voice from the park. Beat and Neku were walking towards them. "Joshua?" asked Neku, surprised.

"Oh hey Phones, Skulls. What brings you here?" said Mr. Hanekoma in a friendly voice.

"We were just stopping by to say hi, yo!" said Beat.

"Well, hello there, Neku," said Joshua.

"What the hell, yo!?" screamed Beat suddenly, turning. Sora and Kairi turned as well, and spotted over two dozen Neo Shadows climbing out of the ground.

"Feel like lending a hand, Sora?" Joshua asked with a smirk. Suddenly, the entire world turned to shades of black and white, and seemed to distort and blend. When the UG and RG were merged again, and they could see, Beat yelped.

"Sora? Kairi? Where'd you two come from, yo?"

Not pausing to answer, Sora lunged towards the mob of heartless, swiping his keyblades left and right. Where Oathkeeper met shadow, heartless was destroyed. Kairi approached more cautiously, and rather than entering the fray, gathered energy within her keyblades, and released them as rays of light. The beams swirled into the mob of heartless, ripping them apart.

Sora danced left and right, in tandem with Kairi's magical attacks. His blades whirled, finishing a weakened heartless one moment, parrying, and countering a blow the next. Behind the two, Hanekoma whistled. "They're good," he said.

More heartless continued to rise from the ground though.

"C'mon Beat," said Neku suddenly. He lifted a few pins, and tossed one through the air, which was caught by his friend.

"Whatchu say?" said Beat, examining the pin, which depicted a skateboard.

"We can use psyches, right Josh?"

"Mmhmm," Joshua answered, still admiring Sora's elegant swordplay.

"Alright, yo! Time for a beat-down!" Beat leapt forward, jumping on his skateboard as he went. He shifted his weight as he approached, bringing the front up slightly, and slammed into a Neo Shadow, sending it flying. A bolt of lightning from Neku finished the heartless.

Another massive beam of light ripped through the heartless ranks. Evidently, Joshua had decided Sora needed a hand. But the heartless kept coming.

"Zetta son of digits!" cried a voice. The Conductor of Shibuya dropped down, always eager to take to the field. "N-Factorial!" he roared, erasing half a dozen heartless as fast as he could solve Sora's dreaded Rubik's cube.

Suddenly, the heartless changed a plan of attack. The remaining twenty or so heartless made a desperate run past the Composer, Conductor, Beat, and Neku. Sora destroyed two as they passed, and Kairi finished off three with a well aimed shower of light. An array of multicolored blades destroyed another one, as Joshua unleashed another powerful beam.

The surviving heartless reached the taboo sigil painted on the wall. At once, they began to shift again. Their eyes dulled from an eerie glowing yellow to a deathly cold silver, to match the tattoos that spread all over their dark bodies. Their wicked claws elongated and became silver as well, ending in pitch black talons. Silver and white wings, similar in shape to those of reapers, emerged from their backs.

Joshua and Sho unleashed their most powerful psyches against the transformed heartless, but they caused no harm. For once, the Composer himself was visibly shaken. "How!?" he managed, as he backed away. Only taboo noise were capable of withstanding his more powerful psyches.

Beat and Neku lunged forward, striking at the heartless as best they could. Neku launched a powerful shockwave psyche, as Beat leapt up, landing on another. The two attacks, in synch, hurt the heartless slightly, but they were far too strong. With a few quick swipes, Beat was sent flying off his skateboard, and Neku was forced to jump back, to avoid being shredded.

Neku reached for his fusion pin. Then he remembered… he had given it to Sora.

"Sora! Use the fusion pin!" he cried. Sora nodded at once, grabbing the blank pin.

Only it wasn't blank anymore. On it was the image of Kairi's good luck charm, the thalassa shell star, and Sora's small silver crown pendant. He raised it into the air.

As he did so, he could feel his consciousness merge with Kairi's. All four of the Oathkeeper keyblades shined brightly, and lengthened. Kairi led the attack, rushing forward. Sora guided her into a spin, standing back to back with her, and the four blades ripped through the nearest heartless, scattering the others. Together, they leapt forward, and the massive, shining keyblades weaved between each other gracefully, ripping apart several more of the heartless. Finally, in one swift motion, all four keyblades were thrown into the air and merged into a larger one one. Kairi and Sora leapt up, their right hands grasping each others, and their left hands holding the handle. They plummeted, the keyblade sinking deep into the ground, unleashing bursts of white light, resembling fireworks, that eradicated the remaining heartless.

When the attack was finished, their clothing faded to their ordinary black, blue, red and gold hues, and the two stood where over a dozen heartless were gathered only a moment ago.

"Nice work," said Joshua, dropping to the ground. "Now, Minamimoto. Please, explain this."

Sho took a look at the sigil and laughed. "Ain't my doing, you factoring hectopascal." He turned and leapt, landing onto one of the three junk heaps. "This is my art. Where's your beauty?"

Joshua looked at Hanekoma, concerned. "If Sho didn't make the sigil, then who did?" Joshua asked.

Meanwhile, Neku and Beat were talking to Sora and Kairi.

"Yo, that was great!" congratulated Beat.

"Yea… thanks for the pin, Neku," said Sora, still a little bit dazed. The use of drive forms was severely taxing. He looked to his side and noted that Kairi seemed exhausted too.

"Don't thank me," said Neku. "The pin draws its power from you and your partner."

"You two were incredible, yo!" said Beat.

Kairi smiled faintly. "Thanks, Beat," she said. She turned to Sora. "What were those things?"

Sora wished he had an answer for her. "I don't know," he replied honestly. "I think the heartless turned into noise, somehow." He thought for a moment. "Just what are noise, anyways?" he asked Neku. "I've never really thought about it before."

"Well, I'm not really sure either," Neku admitted. "They live somewhere between the RG and the UG. They can affect both… they appear in the UG, and in the RG, they affect people's emotions and thoughts."

"So you can't turn into noise?" asked Kairi.

"I don't think so," said Neku. "Well, taboo noise is different though. Taboo noise is made from those," he said, turning and pointing towards the sigil on the wall.

Meanwhile, Joshua, Sho, and Hanekoma were finishing up their conversation.

"Fine, Sho," Joshua said from nearby. "But they'd better work."

Sho grinned. "I'll derive whoever's been factoring my UG," he promised.

"Don't get too carried away," said Hanekoma.

"Hey, Joshua?" Sora called.

Joshua turned towards Sora and Kairi. "Thanks for your help, and congratulations. Only three days left to go. Now, you two look like you could use some rest, and I really ought to fix up Shibuya."

Before either of the players could interrupt, the world began to shudder and change once more. Neither Kairi nor Sora noticed, as they had both already fallen into a deep slumber.

"Sleep tight," he said in a mocking voice, ignoring Beat and Neku's sputters of protest.


	15. Chapter 14: The Pi Pin

**Chapter 14: Day Five, The Pi-Pin**

Sora awoke the following morning in a comfortable sleeping bag. He didn't recognize the room he was in, at all. Light peeked over the horizon and through the window, indicating it was just past dawn. Sora got to his feet, and looked around the room. There was a couch, upon which Kairi lay sleeping, covered in a large, emerald green blanket. Near Sora was a table, and on it, several small metal parts, sorted into various trays. Next to the work table was a writing desk, with a pad of paper and a handful of pens cased in gold and silver. What seemed to be a sack of painting supplies was underneath the writing table.

"Where are we?" Sora muttered. A knocking noise startled him, and the now wide-awake Kairi. She looked just as confused, as she took in their surroundings.

"Are you two awake yet?" came a quiet call from outside. Sora opened the door, and saw Mr. H standing in front. "Morning, Spikes!"

"Mr. H?" asked Sora, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Mr. Hanekoma laughed. "Why wouldn't I be here? You're in the Wildkat Café."

* * * * * * * * * *

"Josh told Kariya you guys had a rough day yesterday, so Kariya's giving you an hour or so before he sends the mission mail," Hanekoma explained. Sora and Kairi were sitting with the Café owner, the players each with a glass of orange juice. "You two feeling alright? Only three days to go now, huh?"

"Yea. Mr. H, what were those things we fought yesterday?" asked Kairi.

Hanekoma's expression turned grave. "We're not sure, really. They've been showing up in Shibuya for as long as any of us can remember, although usually there aren't a lot of them. That icon on the wall was a Taboo Refinery Sigil. They're not easy to draw; only a few people know how to make them properly. Until yesterday, we didn't know the strange creatures could be turned into noise."

"Mr. H," Sora began. He stopped and looked towards Kairi hesitantly. She nodded, resigned to the fact that the barista, mysterious as he was, was not their enemy. "Those creatures are called heartless. We've dealt with them before."

"Heartless?" asked Hanekoma. "Funny name."

"They're born from the darkness in people's hearts," Sora said, reciting the dictionary definition of a heartless. "When the darkness becomes too strong, it consumes the heart and turns an individual into a heartless."

"Heartless can be controlled by someone with enough darkness with their hearts," Kairi explained. "But they always try to find other people, and draw out the darkness, turning them into heartless too. They're instinct-driven to find hearts… particularly the heart of a world."

"This weapon," said Sora, summoning Oblivion, "is a keyblade. It has the power to seal a world's keyholes, which protects the heart of a world. It also has the power to destroy heartless for good. A heartless not destroyed by a keyblade will simply reform later."

"So you two came here, looking for these heartless?" asked Hanekoma. Sora and Kairi both nodded. "You mentioned the heart of a world… there are more worlds than this one, aren't there?" he asked.

"Yes," affirmed Kairi. "Sora and I come from a world called Destiny Islands. Sora's been through many worlds, sealing any keyholes he found."

"We came here to see if the heartless were here, and to find any keyholes in Shibuya," said Sora. "Only, I was killed on our first day here."

"Thanks for the info. Listen up, Spikes. Just worry about yourself, and make sure you two make it out of the game, alright? Don't worry about us, Josh will take care of things," Hanekoma said.

* * * * * * * * * *

The two stepped out of the Café a few minutes later. Their mission was due to arrive any moment.

"You were right then," said Kairi. "Yesterday, when you said the heartless turned into noise," she reminded, when Sora gazed at her quizzically.

"Oh. Right."

"Are you alright, Sora?"

Sora yawned. "I'm just really tired of being dead."

Their phones rang out as the mission mail arrived.

"Six special pins have been given to you. Distribute them among the Reapers who do not yet have them, spread throughout Shibuya. There is no time limit. Save me the trouble, and don't fail," it read.

"Special pins?" Kairi asked, as Sora searched his pockets. Soon enough, he found three new pins in one of them. Kairi immediately searched her pockets as well, and found three as well. They were identical, having a black background, and a white symbol: π.

"What a strange pin," said Sora.

"So we just need to find six Reapers, and give them each one?" asked Kairi.

"Sounds like it," said Sora, examining the pin.

"Okay, let's go then," said Kairi, stowing the π-pins.

To their pleasant surprise, they found a Reaper almost immediately, loitering in the nearby park. He spotted the players as well.

"If you want to pass, you'll have to-"

"Wait a moment," said Sora. "We're supposed to give you this," he said, lifting a pin from his pocket and offering it to the Reaper.

"Oh thanks. Free pins are always accepted," he said brightly. "Of course, if you want to pass, you still have to complete my mission."

"Alright, what's the mission?" asked Kairi. The reaper led them to a very familiar table a short distance away. "Oh no," Kairi groaned.

"Play me at Tin Pin," the reaper said.

"Go for it Kai," Sora said jokingly. "Kidding," he said hastily, as she glared at him witheringly. He went to the table and then realized…

"Shoot, I don't have any pins I can use!"

"No pins?" asked the reaper, surprised. Players usually couldn't make it far without their pins.

"Oh wait, I suppose I could use these," Sora said, pulling out the two remaining π-pins. The π-pins proved to be surprisingly effective, and Sora managed to pull off a fairly quick win.

"Aw man, those pins are good!"

"Well, we gave you one, so you can use it next time," Kairi said comfortingly, as she hurriedly tugged Sora away.

"I'm never going to win at this game," the reaper said sadly as the players left.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Five to go," said Sora, as they reached Molco. They had already decided not to ask Shiki for help, seeing as Shiki likely couldn't help them find the other reapers. "Make that four," he grinned, as he spotted a reaper sitting at a table in the corner of the food court.

"Hey, players," said the reaper glumly, as Kairi and Sora sat down. "Wanna do me a little favor?"

"We're just here to give you this pin," said Sora, handing over one of the π-pins. The reaper gave it a glance, then sighed.

"Tell you what. You guys help me out and I'll take the pin."

"You want us to help you before you'll take a free pin?" asked Kairi, incredulously.

"Sure. I don't want the pin. Besides, it's your mission to give them out, right?" he asked shrewdly.

"Alright, you got us," said Sora, taking the pin back. "What do you want?"

The reaper shifted uneasily. "Well, I sort of lost a bet to Kariya…"

"And you owe him a bowl of Ramen?" asked Kairi.

"How did you know?" the Reaper said sarcastically. "Anyways, I needed to get some cash really quick. I have some stuff," he said, lifting a package out of his backpack, "that I've been trying to sell. I got it a few weeks ago when we were cleaning out the headquarters. It's worth way more than the 1,000 yen I need, but, you guys know the way trends work. This stuff went out of style already, and no one cares for it anymore."

"So you want a thousand yen?" asked Sora, reaching for his munny pouch. Munny was a unique currency in that it would change to match the currency of any world, and with the storage bin on the _Highwind_ loaded with munny, he wasn't too worried about a bit of munny. He pulled out a hundred munny, which instantly changed into 10 yen coins.

"Really!? Thanks guys!" the reaper said excitedly. "Here, you might as well take it," he said, passing the package to Sora. "Oh yea, and you wanted me to take a pin right? Thanks, and good luck with your mission!" the reaper chortled, walking out of the mall with money to pay off his bet.

"What is it?" asked Kairi, sidling closer for a look. Sora opened the package, and inside was some sort of black coat. "Those Reapers sure like black."

"C'mon, four more," said Sora. They set off, heading towards the Scramble Crossing. No reapers could be seen anywhere. "How come there's never a reaper in sight when you need one?" Sora grumbled.

"Why don't we try 104? There was one in Molco," suggested Kairi. "There might be another one in 104."

104 proved to be as busy as always, and Kairi and Sora narrowly missed a reaper walking out of some sort of hardware store, seeming even more troubled than the one they had seen in Molco. The crowds proved difficult to navigate through, and the reaper exited the mall before Sora and Kairi could catch up.

"Which way did he go?" asked Sora, confused.

"Down Dogenzaka maybe?" The two of them turned in time to see the reaper at the other end of Dogenzaka, walking towards A-East. "There he is!" Kairi cried, gesturing towards the reaper. The two hurried down, and turned onto A-East.

There they found the bass reaper, conversing with a pair of other reapers. One wore a red hoodie, and looked like half the other reapers in the city. The other was tall, and had a spiky blonde mohawk. His black coat had strange white patterns on it, and a length of chain was looped around his belt. He wore a collar, as well, with a small skull latched onto it.

"They're all out," the bass reaper groaned.

"Are you sure, BJ?" asked the reaper in the red hoodie.

"Yes, I'm sure!" the one called BJ snapped. "I tried Molco, 104, even the store on Towa Records."

"Did you get the wings at least?" asked the reaper with the mohawk.

"Yea, they thought I was a fan," the bass reaper laughed.

"Well it's no good without a mic!" complained the red reaper again.

"Tenho, why don't you try looking for one then!?"

"It's no good, guys," came a voice from the stage. Another man stepped out. He lacked Reaper's wings, and wore a simple black t-shirt and blue jeans. "It's no good," he repeated, throwing a strange object to the ground, frustrated. It appeared to be a megaphone of some sort. "It's busted."

"And every mic in the city was bought out this morning too," groaned the man with the mohawk.

"Well, we gotta do something for the show tonight!" griped Tenho.

"Excuse me?" interrupted Kairi. "Are you reapers?"

BJ, Tenho, and the man with the mohawk turned, although the wingless man did not. Their eyes lit up in recognition. One of them turned. "Hey, Futoshi, why don't you check Shibu-Q heads? I forgot to check down there."

"That's on the other side of the city!" Futoshi, whom Sora guessed was an ordinary human, protested.

"Yea well, hurry up then," said BJ. Futoshi left, swearing profusely.

"Players, right?" asked the man with the mohawk, once Futoshi was out of sight. "Name's triple-seven. Any chance you can do us a favor?"

"Actually, we just wanted to give you these pins," said Kairi, holding out her three π-pins.

"That's your mission then?" asked BJ. Sora nodded.

777 gave a bark of laughter. "Tell you what, players. You help us out of this little jam we're in, and we'll help you with your mission. We'll even throw in a little gift."

Sora groaned. It was one thing to give stuff away… it was another to have to help people so that they'd take the stuff. But it didn't seem like he had much of a choice. "Alright, fine. What do you need?"

"Just an ordinary microphone," said 777 with a shrug. "Thanks to the silly promotion in front of the Shibuya Main Store, every store is completely sold out of microphones. And the megaphone we've been using busted this morning."

"So… just go find you a microphone?" asked Kairi. 777 nodded. "Where should we look for it?"

"That's your problem," said 777 with a toothy smile. "You find us a microphone, and we'll take the silly pins off you. We'll even wear them if that's what you want."

Sora and Kairi walked north, away from the reapers and to the Shibuya Main Store. A large table was covered in small pairs of miniature black reaper wings. A large sign said "Make your own Def Märch mic now!"

"Def Märch?" asked Kairi. "Isn't that the band that Shiki likes?"

"Guess so," said Sora. "So everyone in the city is fighting for the microphones… so they can make one that looks like the symbol of some band… and these reapers decided they need a microphone on the same day? What luck…"

"Well, I don't think Shiki's the type to miss out on something like this," said Kairi. "Why don't we see if she bought a microphone?" In response, Sora just pointed. Shiki was standing with her friend Eri, each clutching a tall standing microphone. Eri was carefully attaching wings to hers.

"I can't believe the tickets were sold out already," Shiki whined.

"I know, it's so unfair," said Eri absentmindedly, as she carefully attached the wings onto the end of the microphone. "There! A limited edition collector's masterpiece!"

"Oh, it looks great!" said Shiki cheerfully. She held a similar pair of wings in her hand, and tried to clip it onto her microphone.

"She looks awfully attached to it," said Sora.

"Hmm… maybe she'll let triple seven use it for whatever they needed it for?"

"Good idea," said Sora. He walked over and noted, to his relief, Shiki still wore the reaper's knell. He rang it several times, as she was fiddling with the microphone and wings, thus shaking the bell up and down already. She finally noticed as she paused to clip the second wing on, though.

"Hey, Eri?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you watch my stuff for a bit? Err… bathroom."

Eri nodded, still admiring her new trophy, and Shiki made for the Shibuya Main Store. Once inside, Sora and Kairi became visible. "Sora! Kairi!"

"Shiki, we really need a favor," said Kairi. "Do you think you could lend a reaper your microphone?"

"The microphone?" she asked.

"Sorry, Shiki, but everywhere is sold out, and one of the reapers really needs a microphone."

Shiki looked outside to where Eri stood with the two microphones. "I guess… I wanted to bring it to the Def Märch concert tonight, but we couldn't get tickets so it doesn't matter anyways I suppose."

"Okay, I'll go make sure that's okay with them," said Sora. He left the mall, returning less than ten minutes later, smiling broadly. "Shiki, he says he can return it to you early tomorrow morning if you'll lend it to him."

"Okay," said Shiki.

They headed back to where Eri stood, and Shiki finished assembling the microphone. Then she said good bye to Eri, and went back into the mall.

"So where is the Reaper?" she asked.

"Down by A-East," Kairi answered.

"A-East?" asked Shiki, surprised. "But the Def Märch concert is happening at the stage of A-East tonight."

The three of them headed back down to A-East, and found 777 and the others waiting for them. As the reapers came into view, Shiki gasped.

"Triple-seven!? BJ!? Tenho!?"

"Oh hey," said 777. "Sorry, we're kind of busy…" Then he noticed Sora standing nearby too. "Oh hey, is she the one?"

Sora nodded. "That's her."

Shiki couldn't see Sora or Kairi, but she presented her microphone to the reapers. "Sora said you wanted to borrow this… right?" She seemed to be having a hard time breathing due to excitement.

"Yea, thanks a lot!" said 777. "We'll get it back to you tomorrow morning alright? Or after the concert, if you want. You're coming, aren't you?"

Shiki shook her head. "No… the tickets sold out too fast… but… could you autograph the microphone after!?" she burst out suddenly.

The three reapers laughed. "Sure thing, we really do owe you one!" BJ pointed at the wrecked megaphone. "Man, first ours gets stolen, then we find this thing… then it breaks."

"After the concert, come backstage to pick it up, alright?" said 777. Shiki began to say something, but he cut her off. "Yea I know, you couldn't get tickets. Well, here's one now," he said, handing her one.

He turned back to Sora. "Thanks, man! You really got us out of a jam!"

"Thanks… can you take those pins now?" asked Sora.

"Sure thing, bro," said 777, and Kairi handed her three pins over, one to each Reaper. "Oh yea, take these," he said, handing Sora two tickets as well. "C'mon guys, we have a rehearsal still!"

"You're not interested in going to the concert, are you, Sora?" asked Kairi.

"Do you want to go?" asked Sora, evading the question. He didn't really want to go, but Kairi seemed to have something in mind.

"Not really… but we could give them to Shiki."

"Good idea. Hey triple-seven, can you tell Shiki to meet us back at Shibuya Main Store? She can't see us, since we're players and all that," called Sora, to the retreating back of the reapers who were already at the doorway of the stage.

"Hey, Shiki?" triple seven called to the girl, who was still stunned. "Your friends want you to meet them at Shibuya Main Store again. See you later!"

Shiki nodded numbly and walked to the store. Kairi and Sora followed her in, and she turned around, almost freaking out. "That was him! Triple-Seven! And they're going to use my microphone! And they gave me a ticket! This is going to be great!" she said all in one breath.

"Hey, Shiki, thanks for the help," said Sora.

"Do you want to bring Eri to see the concert with you?" asked Kairi, offering her the other two tickets.

"R-Really? You don't need them?" Shiki stammered.

"Go on, take them," said Kairi encouragingly. "Besides, Kariya will probably put us to sleep before the concert anyways."

"Thanks a lot guys!" Shiki cried, pulling both Sora and Kairi into a hug. "I have to find Eri!" she said, hastily waving farewell.

"Excitable, isn't she?" said Sora. "Well, one more pin to go."

They headed outside, and back to the Scramble Crossing, without seeing another reaper. They visited the statute of Hachiko, and a place Sora hadn't been to before, the Shibuya Station. They also visited AMX and center street, even Shibu-Q Heads and the backstreets. No reapers.

"Where are those blasted Reapers?" Sora cried in frustration. "This is getting ridiculous."

"Relax, Sora, there's no time limit, remember?" reminded Kairi. "Maybe we should check Towa Records?"

"Why would you two be looking for reapers anyways?" came a voice. They turned and noted a young woman with brown hair and reaper's wings leaning against the nearest wall.

"A reaper!" said Sora. He plunged his hands into his pocket, reaching for the pin.

Apparently, she thought he was going for weapon. "Whoa, relax," she said. "I'm not a harrier, I'm not going to attack you."

Sora gave her an incredulous look. She didn't look so strong. Attack? He shook his head and lifted out the pin. "We needed to give you this," he said. He flipped the pin into the air, and the woman caught it easily.

She inspected the pin, then shrugged. "Okay."

"Just like that?" asked Kairi, surprised.

"Of course not," the mysterious reaper said with a giggle. "I'll take it if… you can complete one challenge."

"Not again," moaned Sora.

"Don't worry, it's easy," she said, smiling. "You do have a phone right? Does yours have a camera?"

Sora lifted his phone and examined it. "I don't know," he admitted.

"Well, CAT drew something new last night, and I wanted a picture of it. That's all. See? Easy, right?" she said, beaming.

Kairi looked at the small manual that Mr. Hanekoma had given to them the other day. "Yea, we have phones… whoa!" she said suddenly.

"Something wrong, Kai?" asked Sora, turning towards her.

She read from the manual out loud. "To snap a photo, first adjust the time dial to the desired time. Point the camera, and press the button located on the right side of the phone. Keep in mind that the current technology only allows for three photos per day, and can only delve into the past, up to one week (168 hours)."

Sora's and the reaper's jaws both dropped. "That thing can take pictures… of the past?" asked Sora incredulously, unsure as to whether he had heard correctly, or perhaps Kairi was playing a joke on him.

"Of the past!?" the Reaper said, equally surprised. She walked closer and Kairi handed her the manual. "Incredible! Wait, does this mean you can get me a picture of CAT too!? I've never even seen him before! Can you get a picture of him adding to the mural? Please!?"

She seemed far too cheerful for a reaper, and Sora felt he had to ask. "Say… you don't really sound like a normal reaper."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the girl asked.

"Just that you're a bit too friendly… and excitable." Kairi nodded, as she had been thinking along the same lines.

"Oh. Yea… I'm a little bit different from the other Reapers. I don't try to erase players. My job is to clean up the noise that gets left behind or out of control. So, can you help me take the picture?"

"Sure… you'll take the pin then, right?" asked Kairi.

"I already took it, didn't I?" she said, as she led the way up the backstreets, where the last mural was.

"There!" she said, pointing proudly at what she had called CAT's latest masterpiece.

Sora and Kairi looked at it, dumbstruck. It wasn't artwork. It was a Taboo Refinery Sigil.

"Fantastic, isn't it?" the Reaper squealed, oblivious to the horror in their eyes. "Umm… hello?"

"Is that… what I think it is?" said Kairi, in barely a whisper.

Sora nodded grimly, and lifted his phone. He adjusted the dial to 11:30 the night before, and snapped a photo. As promised by the manual, it showed the mural at 11:30 the night before, sigil free.

He adjusted it again, this time to 1:00 that morning, and snapped a photo. This time, the sigil was clearly visible.

Sora took one last photo, adjusting the time to midnight. No sigil. "Kairi, can I borrow your phone?"

"Hello? Is something wrong?" the Reaper asked the two players.

"Very," said Sora, snapping another shot at 12:30. He gasped. "No… that's impossible!"

"No way!" exclaimed Kairi, looking at the photo.

Standing besides the wall, with various spray paints and other painting materials, was Sho Minamimoto, in the act of drawing a Taboo Sigil. But it wasn't the Conductor. It was the taboo Noise that had been erased less than a week ago. It was dark, but unmistakable. He wore the fanatical grin both Sho's exemplified, and his clothing was torn as it had been during their last encounter. He wore neither hat nor bandana. Even in the photo, his eyes glowed with the same ferocity and insane glee, the instable power that had been the true finale of the previous week. However, his eyes had a slight golden hue as well.

"Is that… CAT?" said the Reaper, looking at the image, stunned. "He looks a bit scary… and a lot like the new Conductor."

Sora shook his head numbly. "This isn't the CAT. We've met CAT before. This isn't him, and that isn't his artwork. It's a Taboo Refinery Sigil…"

"Well, what do we have here?" came a voice. Kariya stepped in. "It seems you've finished the…" His voice trailed off as he spotted the sigil. "What have you done?" he whispered, glancing at Sora and Kairi.

"It wasn't us!" said Kairi. She wrenched the phone from Sora's grasp, and held it up in front of Kariya.

Kariya took the phone for a moment. He shook his head, transferred the data to his own phone, and returned it to Kairi. He dialed a number. "Hey. You really ought to see this." He listened to a voice from the phone from a moment, before nodding and turning to Sora and Kairi.

"I'm sorry, Players, but this is beyond your concern. Good night."

The world faded away from Sora's eyes, leaving only darkness behind.


	16. Chapter 15: The Final Rest

**Chapter 15: Day Six, The Final Rest  
**

Sora climbed to his feet. They were back at the Scramble Crossing again. Kairi had awoken at the same time, and was doing the same less than five feet away. Day Six… only two days to go.

"You alright, Kai?" asked Sora, worried. Taboo Sho, back again? These last two days might not be as simple as they had hoped. At least they knew how to fight him this time, though.

Kairi nodded. "I'm fine, Sora," she said quietly. "For now anyways… what are we going to do?"

"Do?" asked Sora. "Kariya said it was none of our business. We'll let him and the reapers handle it, and just focus on getting out of here." Of course, he didn't really believe that. Reapers had a habit of making things the player's business, whether it rightfully was or not.

Kairi didn't believe it either, from her expression, but she let it slide. "So what do we do now?" she asked. "Are we even going to get a mission? It seems Sho and Kariya are going to be busy…"

"I don't know," Sora admitted.

* * * * * * * * * *

"I repeat. If you do encounter the subject, do not engage him in combat. Is that clear?" asked Kariya, before a gathering of reapers. Nearly two score of reapers were present. Since no response greeted his ears, Kariya nodded. "Very well then. Report right away if you find anything strange."

The reaper filed out, spreading their wings and soaring all over Shibuya, appearing almost as giant birds of prey to those who could see them.

"Uzuki, you're with me," said Kariya.

"Duh," responded the pink-haired Reaper. "Where are we patrolling?"

Kariya smirked. "Dogenzaka of course."

"The players really lucked out," Uzuki groaned. "You've got to be the laziest GM ever."

"Why thank you," said Kariya mockingly. "Now let's go get some ramen… speaking of players, I do need to send them a mail, don't I?"

* * * * * * * * * *

Sora had clutched onto his phone so long, which lay silent, that when it finally did ring, it startled him and he nearly dropped it. "Mail's here," he said unnecessarily.

"Well, that settles it," said Kairi, reading the mail. Sora nodded.

"Dear, dear players. Thank you so very much for finding that Taboo Refinery Sigil for us yesterday. As the UG is now on high alert, normal missions have been suspended. Meet us at Ramen Don on Dogenzaka. You have an hour."

"I wonder what he means by high alert," asked Sora.

"Look! Up there!" said Kairi, pointing upwards. Sora looked in that direction, and noted three reapers standing on the roof of a slightly shorter skyscraper. As they watched, the reapers leapt, using their wings to soar to the next tower.

"I guess they're looking for him," said Sora. "Well, today's mission is easy… guess we're off the hook."

The two headed north, past 104 and towards Dogenzaka. It was less than fifteen minutes away, and when they stepped into the small ramen store, a familiar orange-haired reaper holding a lollipop sat in the corner booth, along with his pink-haired partner. She didn't look too happy to be there, though.

"Hello, Mr. Kariya," said Kairi respectfully, as they approached the Game Master.

"Oh hey, Kairi, Spikes," said the Reaper, smiling. He waved his hand at the chef, who soon passed another two bowls of freshly cooked noodles over. "Go on," Kariya said, gesturing towards the other two seats. Kairi and Sora sat down uneasily. What was the Game Master up to?

"What's going on?" asked Sora. The food looked good, and he was hungry, but he wasn't sure he could really trust Kariya.

Kariya simply laughed at their mistrust. "Relax, kids. The reapers are hunting for the rogue noise right now."

"Except for us," Uzuki grumbled. "I thought we were _patrolling_. We're just sitting here!"

"Take what you get, Uzuki," Kariya said with a melancholy sigh. "Besides, we can see half of Dogenzaka from here. We'll be able to see the other half later from Shibuya Blitz," he said with a grin.

"So... what else do we have to do?" asked Kairi, sharing Sora's mistrust of the GM.

"Just eat and relax," said Kariya. "You're mission's done. Although, seeing as it _was_ you two who beat the Tabooty before, if we find him, he'll be your mission tomorrow," he said with a devious grin.

There it was. Sora _knew_ this would happen. He sighed, picked up his chopsticks, and began eating. He supposed it wouldn't be poisoned if the reapers still needed him and Kairi to fight the rogue noise.

He was secretly worried, though. Kairi wasn't the most experienced fighter, far from, in fact. And the taboo Noise had been strong. They really lucked out the first time. He could recall the battle with Xenmas easily, Riku besides him, and they were on the edge for the entire fight. And Sho had been faster and nearly as strong as Xenmas.

Speaking of Riku, where was he? Roxas set off to get him five days ago. He would feel a lot better about the impending battle if the two of them were there to help. But could they help?

The two finished their lunch, thanked the Game Master, and headed off.

"Where to?" asked Kairi.

Sora shrugged. "Anywhere, I guess. We have all day, right?"

"We could visit Shiki," Kairi suggested.

"She's probably still asleep," said Sora. "She went to another one of those concert's yesterday, remember? We gave her an extra ticket, too," said Sora, remembering that Shiki had left with not two, but three tickets. Enough for her friend Eri, and one more person. "A hundred munny says she asked Neku to go with her?" he asked Kairi, grinning.

"Who do you think I am? Riku?" teased Kairi. "What do you two do with all your munny anyways?" she asked, wondering. She had noted a large chest in one of the _Highwind_'s storage rooms, completely stuffed full of munny.

"Well, if I left it to Donald, it would all be gone already," said Sora with a laugh. "He's better at spending money than even you, Kai."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kairi demanded.

"Uhh…" Sora searched for an answer. He could almost hear Roxas mocking him in his head, as his nobody had done every time he said something stupid. "Never mind," he finally said. "Is there anything you wanted to do?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"Not really," Kairi answered. "Maybe we can find Neku, he should know something fun to do," she suggested.

Sora nodded. "Sure, I guess," and the two headed off to the Udagawa backstreets, where they had found Neku countless times. Surprisingly enough, Neku wasn't there, though three reapers were, watching the Taboo Noise Sigil carefully.

"Where else does Neku usually hang out?" asked Sora.

Kairi pondered that for a moment before answering, "Wildkat Café maybe?"

On the way to the café, they encountered several more reapers, uneasily wandering Shibuya, all looking for strange happenings. Sora noticed that several of them wore the π-pins he and Kairi had distributed the day before.

They reached Cat street, and evidently, Mr. Hanekoma had disliked the "artwork" decorating the street in front of his café, as the Conductor's junk heaps had been removed. Two more reapers stood watch over the Taboo Refinery Sigil there.

As Sora and Kairi approached, the door opened, startling the reapers who thought the store was closed. Neku walked out of the store slowly, seeming quite occupied with something. Sora waved, before remembering that Neku couldn't see him.

"I wonder what's wrong with him," said Kairi quietly.

"Maybe Mr. H knows?" asked Sora, leading the way into the small café.

"Oh hey Spikes, Kairi," Hanekoma greeted from behind the counter, a wet rag in his hand as he wiped down the already sparkling clean bar. "What brings you two about?" Sora groaned. Was anyone ever going to remember his name?

"Kariya gave us a day off," Kairi explained.

Hanekoma quickly poured a couple glasses of fresh fruit juice and passed it to the two players. "So, a day off huh? Only one day to go then."

"Mr. Hanekoma, did you hear about the other sigil yesterday?" asked Sora.

Hanekoma grimaced. "Of course. They've also found another six more, throughout the city."

Kairi looked horrified. "Six more?"

"Nothing to worry about right now, of course, as they haven't been used it. Lollipop has the reapers watching every one of them, to keep the Taboo Noise from coming back to activate them," he explained. "And, of course, to keep the heartless away from them."

Sora nodded. "We saw reapers watching over them," he said. "Say, Mr. H, do you know where Neku is off to?"

Hanekoma laughed. "You guys might not believe this, but it seems Phones has a thing for Shiki."

"Wasn't it obvious?" asked Kairi.

"Yea well, you two didn't know Phones back then I supposed. He nearly killed the girl on the second day since the Reapers told him too."

"What!?" asked Sora and Kairi together, surprised. Both Neku and Shiki had neglected to mention that.

"Yep. Pinky told him she'd let him out early if he killed Shiki off, and he went ahead with it. Fortunately for her, the Producer dropped in to keep Phones from doing anything too stupid."

"Producer?" asked Sora, not recognizing the title. "Who's that?"

"Well, the UG is ruled by three people. The Composer, who is in charge of the game's well-being, and the one who grants life to those victorious, the Conductor, who rules the game directly, carrying out the Composer's wishes, and the Producer. The Producer is like a referee, he watches over to make sure the game is played the way it needs to be played. No one is even supposed to know who the Producer is though, besides the Composer. Although I suppose the Conductor knows, as Sho has worked with the Producer in the past."

"You can't really lay it on Phones though," said Hanekoma. "Something happened to him before the game… it seems he lost a friend before, a long time ago. And on top of that, his parents really couldn't care less what he does, or even who he is. In fact, they didn't even realize he was dead for a few weeks."

"It must be hard," said Kairi sympathetically.

"I know, right?" said Hanekoma. "Anyhow, as horrible as the game can be, it does bring the best out of people. He's been able to open up his world a lot more, letting other people inside."

"So where's he off to?" asked Sora.

"They're holding a little show on the beach tonight," said Hanekoma, shrugging. "Fireworks, sparklers, the like. End of summer, you know?"

"Fireworks?" asked Kairi, as Sora's eyes widened.

"They have those here!?" asked Sora excitedly.

"What are they?" asked Kairi, feeling left out.

"They're like rockets, Kai. They're really cool. Genie was firing them off back at Agrabah."

Kairi wrinkled her nose. It sounded like a guy thing, really.

"Sure do, Spikes. They're really nice too. You really ought to see them at least once," he said, turning to Kairi. "Trust me, it's worth it. There's a fairly nice view up from on top of 104."

"So Neku's going to ask Shiki to watch the firework show with him?" Sora asked. He remembered the disaster the boy had encountered the last time he tried to ask Shiki out. To be fair though, it probably had more to do with the noise than Neku.

"He didn't say who, specifically, but I know it's neither Beat nor Joshua," Hanekoma said with a grin. "And Rhyme's probably a bit too young for him, isn't she?" He took the empty cups and placed them in the nearby sink. "Well, going or not, you two still have all day. Enjoy your day off," he said.

"Thanks for the juice," said Kairi, and she and Sora rose to leave. Sora left right away, but Hanekoma held Kairi back for a moment.

"You know, he's changed a lot," said Hanekoma. Kairi turned and gave him a bewildered look. "Neku," Hanekoma clarified. "Although I think Sora's changed too."

"Yea, death does that to you," said Kairi sarcastically. Of course they changed. How could they not?

"What did they take as your entry fee, Kairi?"

Kairi gave him a strange look. Didn't he already know? "My life," she answered, after a short pause.

Hanekoma chuckled and shook his head. "Because what really mattered to you most was already taken from you, right? You see, the Composer doesn't collect an entry fee to make a player suffer. Far from. He takes an entry fee to give a player new appreciation for what he has and cares about."

Kairi nodded, not quite sure what it all meant, before remembering that Sora was waiting for her outside. "Bye, Mr. H," she said, and stepped outside.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Hey Kairi," greeted Sora, as she stepped into the afternoon sun. "Where to next?"

"Well, if you want to see the show, we should probably head down to 104 pretty soon," said Kairi.

"Nah, don't worry about it," he said. "What do you want to do?"

Kairi thought that sounded strange, as Sora was quite excited when Hanekoma brought them up. "Well, maybe we can find Neku and Shiki," she said.

"Sure," said Sora, cheerful as always, as he started off towards. Kairi couldn't help but feel something was strangely different about her friend. Maybe it was because Hanekoma had brought it up back in Wildkat. She remembered her own words, about how death could change you. She sighed and shook her head, pushing the thought away.

They arrived at Shiki's house soon, and could only assume Neku had already gone inside. Sora went up to knock, but Kairi stopped him. "Sora!" she said, grabbing his hand before he could rap on the door.

"What?" asked Sora, turning around.

"Neku's going to try to ask Shiki out remember? They might be talking! We can't just interrupt them!"

"So… we should just wait out here for who knows how long?" asked Sora. That didn't quite appeal to him. "Maybe we should join the reapers and go look for heartless to mash instead," he said with a yawn.

"We can't mash any heartless, remember? Not unless Joshua combines the UG and RG again."

Sora sat down on the doorstep, frustrated. He had forgotten that minor detail. Now what?

"Oh well, I guess we might as well knock," said Kairi. "It makes even less sense to come all this way and just sit here," she said with a shrug when Sora gave her a questioning look.

Sora nodded and knocked. Shiki greeted them at the door, realizing immediately who it was when no one was visible. "Hey," she said brightly. "C'mon in!"

They headed in and found Rhyme, Neku, and Naminé sitting at the table.

"Sora! Kairi!" called Naminé and Rhyme together.

They settled down at the table, where the four had been playing some sort of board game. However, they set the game aside as Naminé asked Sora and Kairi about the past few days. She had been awfully worried, despite Shiki mentioning their meeting the day before near Shibuya Main Store.

None of the four were prepared to hear that taboo Sho was back, yet again.

"Well, the reapers are keeping an eye out for him, so the GM gave us the day off," Sora finished. "We figured we'd come find you guys."

"How about you?" asked Kairi. "How was the concert last night?"

At this, Shiki leapt to her feet and raced up the stairs. She returned a minute later, carrying the microphone she had lent 777 and his band, complete with a pair of black wings, and the signatures of the band members in white. "It's great, isn't it?" she said proudly, presenting her trophy.

She placed the microphone in the corner of the room, then sat back down. "The concert was great! Eri really couldn't believe it when I showed her the tickets!"

"Who'd you give the other ticket to?" asked Sora curiously. Neku flinched, as Shiki turned to glare at him.

"Well, I spent all afternoon looking for Neku, but he decided it was a good day to disappear!" she said.

Naminé laughed. "Shiki looked everywhere for him, Hachiko, Udagawa, Molco, Neku's house… even Wildkat Café."

"Where were you anyways?" asked Shiki again. "You still haven't told us."

"Oh… I was talking to an old friend," Neku said evasively. He turned to Sora and Kairi. "Hey, there's going to be a great firework show tonight. Are you two going to come along?"

"They can't leave the city, remember?" reminded Rhyme. "You could come watch from atop 104 though," she said, turning back to the players. "Naminé's coming, right?"

"Sure," Naminé agreed readily.

Sora looked a bit uneasy, but Kairi nodded. "Alright, we'll come," she agreed. "Where's Beat?" she asked, noticing the absence of Rhyme's brother.

"He's down at Molco playing Tin Pin again," said Rhyme.

The six of them talked for a while longer, until sunset. Shiki and Neku set out then, as they had to catch the train south. Rhyme said she had to check on Beat, and that she would meet them at 104, and left as well. That left only Naminé, Sora, and Kairi.

"I'm worried about Roxas," Naminé said, when they were finally alone. "It's not like him to be late." Then she realized how absurd that was, and none of the three could suppress a smile. "Okay, maybe it is," she admitted, giggling. "But not with something this important…"

"Radiant Garden isn't that far away. Neither is Destiny Islands. Roxas and Riku should've made it back by this morning, at latest," calculated Kairi, worried.

"Don't worry about it," reassured Sora. "Roxas and Riku will be fine. Besides, they could hardly help us anyways if they did make it back."

"Still, it's strange not having Roxas around," said Naminé wistfully. "Oh! Look at the time! We'd better get going, too!" she said suddenly.

The three left the Misaki household soon after, Sora and Kairi vanishing from sight.

They started walking towards 104. Kairi nudged Sora. "Hey, Sora?" she asked. "Is everything alright?"

"Sure," said Sora.

"No, it's not," Kairi answered her own question. "Why'd you change your mind all of a sudden?"

"Change my mind?" asked Sora, confused.

"About wanting to go to the show? You were really excited about it when Mr. H mentioned it."

Sora shrugged. "You didn't want to go."

That's what this was all about? That had never stopped Sora from getting into fights with Riku, or playing Blitzball, or whatever else the other boys from the Islands felt like doing that day. "Is that all?" she asked, confused.

"Of course, Kai," said Sora, grinning. "After all, Kariya only promised us one day. Why waste it? I wanted to show you the fireworks, but if you don't want to… I guess we're stuck now anyways."

"The last time you said you wanted to show me something, it was you falling off a surfboard," laughed Kairi.

"Hey! That was Roxas's fault! And what about the courtyard in Disney Castle?"

Kairi's eyes glossed over she recalled the beautiful garden. It was certainly one of the most amazing things she had ever, ever seen. Just being in the garden had put her at ease...

"Kairi?"

"Okay, fine," she said, returning to reality. "Let's go. Naminé and Rhyme are probably waiting for us."

Sure enough, the two girls were in 104, wondering where their player friends were. As Rhyme spotted them, she tapped Naminé at the shoulder, and waved.

"Where were you?" asked Naminé, running forward, looking worried.

"Sora was acting strange," said Kairi with a wink.

"Was not!" the keyblade master protested.

"C'mon, we've got to get upstairs before it gets too crowded!" said Rhyme, leading them to the elevator.

As they arrived on the top floor, they realized it was far too late. The entire roof was packed. Strangely enough, the reaper decal didn't affect the roof, and Sora and Kairi disappeared again once they stepped out, and were able to simply walk through the crowd.

"Well, if no one can see us, we can sit up there," said Sora. He pointed towards another nearby skyscraper, where a great billboard flashed.

"Where?" asked Kairi, looking at the tower. It didn't look as if one could climb to the roof of that building.

"Come on, Kai," said Sora, with a cunning smile on his face. He grabbed Kairi by the hand and led her to the rail. "Ready?" he asked, flashing her a confident grin.

"Wait Sora, what are you going to-" she was cut off as Sora suddenly did a somersault, still holding her hand, and flying over the rail. She screamed and closed her eyes, expecting to plummet hundreds of feet downwards, but it didn't seem as if she were falling. When she finally opened her eyes, she realized Sora was flying.

That in itself wasn't surprising. She had seen him glide about several times, after all. But did he really have to drag her along for the ride? "Sora!" she cried, fearful and angry at the same time.

Sora only laughed harder as he held on tightly, guiding her to the other skyscraper, where they landed neatly on top of the billboard. "See? That wasn't so bad."

Kairi seemed at loss for words. Suddenly, a large cracking sound startled her, and she nearly lost her balance.

"Whoa! Careful!" Sora reached out a hand to steady her, and the two of them sat down, before Kairi looked in the direction of the noise. A few traces of light were still in the air, and a loud cheering could be heard, as high up and far from the crowds as they were.

A series of small rockets then exploded, lighting up the sky with bright red, white, and gold lights. As the lights slowly descended and began to fade, several more trailed through the sky, emitting a steady trail of silver and blue sparks.

It was truly breathtaking. Again and again, explosions were heard, as the fireworks painted the sky with thousands and thousands of lights, that could be seen from miles away. Some would burst into several right away, scattering. Others would release sparks in streams, trailing and arcing downwards towards the ground. Others still were content to simply fall in an arc, releasing a stream of sparkling stars as they went.

Kairi felt as she had back in the Disney Castle courtyard. There were so many beautiful things among the worlds, so many things to be seen. She was reminded of Riku's frequent complaints about the Islands being small. Now she shared a newfound understanding of Riku's desire to explore.

How many other wonders had Sora and Riku seen, battling heartless across the worlds? How many would she find the opportunity to see for herself? As she watched the fireworks streak across the night sky, she recalled the many adventures Sora had told her about: Wonderland, Agrabah, the Olympus Coliseum, the Deep Jungle, Neverland, Atlantica, the Pride Lands. Would she ever find a chance to visit them as well?

She leaned against her dear friend's shoulder, dreaming of the magnificent sights of the other worlds, until at last the show ended. As the lights of the last rocket began to fade, the rest of the world darkened, and sleep claimed the two players at midnight.


	17. Chapter 16: The Finale

**Chapter 16: The Finale**

Week two, Day Seven. The last day. Sora awoke, and the familiar sight of the Scramble Crossing greeted him. This was it. His final day in the game, and the day he'd return to the living.

He looked around and noticed Kairi was awake too. It seemed to be fairly early, as the morning sky was still dark, with only a hint of sun peeking over the distant horizon. The streets were crowded, as always. Sora never really noticed before, but it seemed Shibuya, as a city, rarely slept.

The reapers that were stationed along the edges of the skyscrapers were gone. Despite the typical noisy streets, Sora felt that the entire atmosphere was permeated with tension somehow. It was the same feeling he had before he confronted Xehanort's heartless, and before he battled Xenmas.

"Hey, Sora?" asked Kairi, a nervous shiver in her voice. She evidently felt the unfamiliarity of the scene as well. "We're ready for this, right?" She was quite aware of how ridiculous that sounded, with a hint of fear in it, especially spoken to her bold, fearless, and reckless keyblade master friend, but she needed to hear his voice, brimming with confidence as it always was.

"Of course," Sora said. "We'll be fine, Kai."

As the reassuring words left his lips, the phones rang. Kairi tried to grasp her phone, but her fingers couldn't seem to grip it properly. Sora, seemingly unaware, lifted his phone and read the mission out loud.

"Defeat the rogue noise, located on the roof of Pork City. You have sixty minutes. Do not fail. The Reapers."

As he finished reading the mail, a familiar burning sensation surged up his hand. Kairi flinched as well, and they both raised their hands, taking note of the identical timers. Their gazes met, and Sora nodded silently, before heading north. Pork City was the shopping mall past Dogenzaka, he remembered, with thirteen floors.

Kairi followed, guided by the same determination that had brought her into the game. She came in here to get Sora back, and both of them would be leaving tonight. Nothing was going to stop them. They arrived, ten minutes later, in front of the intimidating skyscraper.

To their surprise, waiting in front of the building was a small group of people. Neku, Shiki, Rhyme, Beat, and Naminé stood there, as if expecting them to appear.

As soon as they stepped into the building and became visible, Beat noticed and alerted the others, who joined them inside.

"Joshua sent us the mission mail as well," Shiki explained.

"We came to wish you luck," said Naminé. "Be careful, Kairi."

"Yo man, be careful in their, alright?" said Beat, pounding Sora on the shoulder.

"You'll be fine," Rhyme reassured the players.

"Sora. Kairi. Josh says he knows this noise is going to be dangerous. You're not going into this alone. The reapers are nearby, ready to help. This is your mission, but according to Josh, the Underground's stability itself is at stake, so the reapers are all on your side now," said Neku.

"So are we," said Shiki, smiling and presenting her stuffed animal. "Neku and I stayed up to 2 in the morning, searching out all our old pins. If Joshua merges the UG and RG again, we'll be ready to help."

"Thanks, everyone," said Kairi, smiling brightly. "Ready?" she asked, turning to Sora, who was grinning as well.

"Whenever you are," said Sora, turning back towards the building. He held up his hand… 45 minutes to go.

The two nodded and stepped inside. A strange metal door was nearby, with a button next to it. Sora was reminded forcibly of the elevators in Hollow Bastion.

Sora strode up to the panel confidently, pushing the button. The door flew open, as if expecting them, and they stepped inside. Inside, a lush green carpet covered the floor of a small closet sized space, and an elaborate mirror lined the wall. Another panel on the inside had several buttons, with thirteen of them labeled by numbers.

"Those are the floors, I guess?" asked Kairi.

"Looks like it," said Sora. He reached over and pushed the button besides "13", the highest number. They felt a rushing sensation as if the room were moving upwards. A minute later, the door opened to reveal the thirteenth floor. Sora and Kairi stepped out of the elevator, the door closing automatically behind them. A complete disaster greeted them.

The floor was littered with scraps of various appliances, wood, metal, and plastic. The entire room was lit only by the sunlight shining through the windows, as the electronic lighting was all disabled. Along the walls, over a dozen Taboo Refinery Sigils were drawn. A single staircase led up the roof, an opened doorway through which light shined, silhouetting a tall figure which stood amidst the ruin.

"So zetta slow!"

Sora and Kairi turned to see none other but the taboo variation of Sho Minamimoto, standing at the foot of a staircase, in all his unnatural, mathematically precise splendor. Something was different about him, though. His clothing was still much like the real Minamimoto, although lacking the cap and bandana, and his coat was torn. His skin seemed to have a shadow cast over it, and his eyes glowed unnaturally bright, with a slight yellowish hue.

"What the factor took you so long, you zetta sons of digits?"

Sora called to Oblivion, which burst from his hand. Kairi lifted her Wizard's Relic, although she knew that sooner or later, she'd be wielding a pair of identical Oathkeeper keyblades.

"So, you got away last time," taunted Sora. "Better start running now!"

"You factoring yoctograms! Zetta stupid hectopascals!" the rogue burst out laughing. "I didn't get away. I, unlike the stupid zeroes you normally fight, had a heart. And within my heart, I found the coefficient of darkness! Now, I am the perfect equation of success!" he ranted. His lips curled into a sneer. "I will derive the Composer, and the UG, the RG, and even the planes beyond shall be integrated into the infinite nature of imaginary numbers!" he roared.

Sora and Kairi barely understood a word of what he said. "Stop rambling!" shouted Sora angrily, diving towards the rogue. To his surprise, his keyblade struck the noise, which didn't even attempt to dodge. Then, it went through the noise harmlessly.

"So zetta slow! Haven't you learned yet? You can't harm a heartless from the UG!"

As the realization sunk in, Kairi and Sora both gasped. "H-Heartless?"

Suddenly, the darker appearance of the rogue made sense. As the neo shadows fused themselves with the power of Taboo Noise before, the maverick noise had done precisely the opposite, and become a heartless.

"Of course, I can not differentiate you radians either," said the noise, in a mock-polite voice. "That, will be the duty for my perfect independent variables." As he said this, taboo oise emerged from the sigils all over the room. "Should you escape the inverse matrix, I await you, should you find the exponent of will to continue." With that, he casually ascended the staircase, to the roof.

The first wave of noise reached Sora and Kairi within seconds, and set upon the pair hungrily. A powerful reflect spell from Sora halted their approach, and Kairi took the chance to shower lightning bolts among their ranks. In synch, the reflected power of the combined noise strikes, along with Kairi's thunder spell injured several of the noise. As the noise gathered for another attack, Kairi slipped backwards, out of the fray, as Sora dove forwards, still fighting defensively to keep the noise at bay. While the noise looked intimidating, he found them no more challenging than some of the more powerful heartless he had encountered in the past.

And Sora, who alone had stood at the base of the Radiant Garden, the lone obstacle of a thousand heartless, and emerged victorious, would not be scared of the taboo noise. With a few measured swipes, he quickly slew a pair of the nearest frog shaped noise, before shifting his balance and rolling to the side, intercepting a third as it tried to strike out at Kairi.

Meanwhile, a safe distance from the melee, Kairi unleashed a small barrage of mini fireballs, followed immediately by great shards of ice. The wizard's relic flared, enhancing the strength of the magic, allowing the minor spells to burn away several of the taboo noise. Lightning bolts flew through the air as well, meeting a grunge wolf noise as it leapt towards Sora.

Sora spun his keyblade quickly, and in a rising motion, finished off the stunned wolf. He pivoted on one foot before swinging Oblivion backhand, knocking away another of the noise frogs. Several noise crabs approached, holding their claws out defensively. Sora waited patiently, instead deflecting a cloud of bubbles, until one of the crabs lowered its guard to attack. A quick lunge, and Oblivion was lodged in the fading noise's shell.

Behind them, Kairi had seemingly exhausted her magical strength. They were in trouble, she knew, as more noise crawled out of the sigils by the moment.

As Sora twirled in a graceful pirouette, slicing another noise as he went, he noticed Kairi's magical force waning. Without hesitation, after a second stab, he flung his keyblade into the air, shouting "Kairi!"

The whirling blade caught her attention immediately, and she understood. Deftly catching the blade in her right hand, she flung the Wizard's Relic she held in her left to Sora, and plunged her free hand into her pocket, grasping her keychain. Soon, she held a flowery keyblade, bound to her by the power of her heart, and the connection between hers and Sora's, the same way she had wielded the Way to Dawn. She dove forward, joining Sora in the middle of the room, as Sora used a series of Magnet, Gravity, and Reflect magic to assist her.

Without bothering to defend, as the powerful reflect spells handled the weak attacks easily enough, Kairi stabbed forward, taking down a noise easily. She spun then, the same maneuver that had cost her many, many matches against Riku. However, her opponent was not Riku, nor was it nearly as skilled as the keyblade wielder. The blade tore through the kangaroo noise's neck.

Unfortunately, the noise kept coming. Sora glanced down at his timer… 35 minutes left.

The lights then came on, all at once, illuminating the room. Sora and Kairi turned to see a dozen reapers enter the room, many of them familiar from their sojourn in the game. At their lead was the true Sho Minamimoto, Conductor of the Underground. The reapers all wore the custom designed π-pins.

"So zetta slow!" Sho shouted.

"Sho!" said Sora, astonished.

"Kariya didn't tell you? That ramen raiding radian!" Sho griped.

Sora launched another reflect spell, holding off another frog, before he and Kairi retreated from the noise, moving to their new allies.

"Neku told us," said Kairi, as they neared the reapers. She neatly stabbed an approaching wolf as it lunged, shifting slightly to the side so the dead wolf crashed by harmlessly.

Sho grinned. "Alright then. It's time."

In unison, he and the other Reapers shouted together, "3.1415926535897932384626." Suddenly, they all stopped. After a short pause…

"CRUNCH!"

All the reapers dove into action at once, bound in synch by the π-pins. Their psyches tore at the ranks of the taboo noise, pushing them back to the sigils.

"Go now, Spikes!" roared Sho, as he blasted away a pair of Grunge wolves.

Sora nodded, and ran, with Kairi right behind him, up the stairs.

The roof was similarly covered in Taboo Refinery Sigils, and the rogue noise stood on the edge of the building, facing out over the city.

He turned, the familiar, maniacal grin lighting up his face. "Congratulations, players," he taunted. "It must be great to know that your exponential efforts alone have sustained this abomination," he said, gesturing out towards the noisy city of Shibuya. "The world is garbage. There will be room for only two factors in my world: flawless calculations and beauty."

"Can't you feel it?" he asked, turning back to Sora. "There is conflict and pain. Each person has their own story, their own values. But all of them… all of them lack beauty. This darkness must exist in every heart, yet only those who embrace it can understand the truth."

Mistaking Sora and Kairi's looks of confusion as doubt, he broke out into a grin. "Any sound can shake the air. My voice shakes the heart." He laughed, at last eliciting a response.

"No. Darkness isn't beauty," said Sora angrily. "Embrace the darkness, and you give up on yourself. Give up on yourself, and you give up on the world."

The heartless burst out laughing once more. "Factoring yoctograms, prepare to be iterated!" he shouted, a powerful psyche gathering in his hands.

Unwilling to let his opponent land the first strike, Sora cut loose with a powerful flare spell, one that he had learned from Donald. The explosion tore off a chunk of the roof, thankfully including a piece of a Taboo Refinery Sigil. But Sho was unscathed.

He continued to laugh, as his psyche faded away. "You zetta son of digits. You can't hurt me anymore than I can hurt you, remember!?"

"But I can." Sora and Kairi turned to see Joshua standing on the roof.

Sho only laughed harder. "Some old horses can always here their owner's approach," he said.

"Good bye," said Joshua. A powerful psyche blasted down from the sky, striking the rogue directly.

To everyone's surprise, the noise ignored that attack as well.

"Sorry, but you're no longer the greatest common factor!" said the rogue noise gleefully.

Joshua shook his head. "I'm afraid it would come to this." With a simple thought, the Composer merged the UG and RG once more.

When their vision returned to normal, Sora held up the wizard's relic, pointing it straight at the taboo noise.

But something was wrong. Strange, small black shadows suddenly appeared, spinning around the ground. They moved in arcs and graceful curves, rather than straight lines, and when they reached the sigils, they emerged. Within thirty seconds, the roof was covered in taboo neo shadows.

Sora called to the power within his heart, and his keyblade left Kairi's grasp, returning to his own. Just as the heartless set upon the two of them though, they rose into the air, light exploding around them, as they entered their drive form once more. Sora was then but a blur of white, silver, and gold, as he glided quickly into the mob of heartless noise, working furiously with both Oathkeeper keyblades.

Kairi was right behind him. Remembering well their last battle, she fought mostly with the keyblade in her right hand, using the keyblade in her left defensively. Her strikes were measured and efficient, keeping the heartless at bay and slaying one with a well-placed diagonal slash.

But there were simply too many for even four keyblades to handle. Sora caught a glimpse of Kairi's timer as he weaved his keyblades in between a parrying neo shadows appendages, slashing its torso. 25 minutes. Somehow he didn't think Kariya would be too focused on the timer, though.

"Haste without waste!" a cheerful voice rang out behind them.

"The Beat is on!"

Rhyme and Beat raced onto the roof, Rhyme charging up a powerful psyche as Beat slammed his skateboard into the nearest heartless. A surge of lightning rolled by, rivaling even Donald's magic, as the pin Rhyme borrowed activated. The young girl's aim was good, the lightning blasting away a pair of heartless at once.

"Neku, come on!"

"Right behind you!"

An enlarged Mr. Mew suddenly soared across the roof, knocking away another heartless, as Neku, riding with Shiki on Mr. Mew's back, launched a shower of powerful psyches all at once, a barrage of rocks, fire, lightning, and magical violet bullets. Shiki expertly guided Mr. Mew into a turn, rushing directly at the taboo Sho. The sinister noise simply blinked away though, easily avoiding the attack. Mr. Mew turned back towards the crowd of heartless, and rushed through once more, surging towards Sho.

Several of the heartless rushed Kairi, from all directions at once. She rolled through the air towards the side, swinging her keyblades around herself to hold them off. The gambit was successful in destroying one of the heartless, but left her directly in the path of one soaring through the air.

Suddenly, a great crystal flower burst from the ground, enclosing a dozen heartless at once and holding them still. Sora took that chance to defeat them, his Oathkeeper easily slicing through both the thin crystal and the heartless incarcerated within.

Naminé, with a simple gesture, summoned another flower, capturing 2 of the heartless that had taken the opportunity to attack her. Beat raced forward, breaking right through the flower and crushing the heartless within.

Meanwhile, Neku and Shiki had leapt from Mr. Mew's back, the stuffed animal shrinking in size. Neku, wielding a close ranged psyche, charged straight at taboo Sho, with Shiki commanding Mr. Mew to strike at Sho whenever he attempted to teleport away.

Suddenly, a whole swarm of weaker, normal shadow heartless gathered at a sigil. Sora leapt forward to destroy them, but it was too late. The heartless combined, forming a portal, through which a great heartless emerged. Its eyes were a glowing bright yellow, and its hair was thick and wild. Its entire body was composed of shades of black and dark blue, and a great cavity in its chest was shaped like a heart. It had two disproportionately large claws at the end of corded, muscular, heartless arms.

As the Darkside heartless emerged from the portal, the power of the Taboo Refinery Sigil washed over it. Its shadowy flesh changed from a bluish hue to a silvery hue instead, and its long talons grew even longer. Great spiky wings, like a reaper's, emerged from its back. Its eyes dulled to a silvery gray, but with a hard glint of power buried within.

Sora and Kairi immediately leapt forward to engage their new foe. It seemed to resist the attacks well, though, and reared up before breathing a cloud of silvery smoke, forcing both Sora and Kairi to retreat. Then, faster than any Darkside Sora had battled before, it lunged forward, its claws wrapping around the keyblade master.

Kairi glided forward, battering the heartless's arm with her keyblades, but doing little harm to the creature. It raised a struggling Sora high up in the air, before suddenly plunging his arm downwards. A portal opened as he did so, and Sora was plunged deep into the darkness, as taboo neo shadows rose from the new portal.

Desperately trying to free Sora, Kairi cast a reflect spell as she dove towards the claw. A trio of neo shadows struck the barrier as she approached, and the explosion of light jerked the Darkside's arm. Sora took the chance to wrest himself free and jump out of the dark portal, tearing apart a pair of the neo shadows as he went.

The great heartless then held both of its arms out wide, and a rain of black and silver fireballs fell from the sky, homing in on Sora and Kairi. Sora, seeing the attack, dropped both his keyblades which spun besides him and glided towards Kairi. Kairi mimicked his actions, and the two grasped hands. With their other hands, they gestured outwards, and the most powerful reflect spell either of them had ever used form around them, catching the powerful blasts.

When the barrage was finished, Sora and Kairi let the barrier fall. Without hesitation, four neo shadows on the ground leapt upwards, their silvery black wings straightening. Then, the combined force of all the dark fireballs was reflected around the duo, obliterating the heartless as Sora and Kairi grasped their keyblades and lunging towards Darkside once more.

"N-Factorial!" the rogue shouted, releasing a deadly psyche at Neku. Neku barely dodged in time, and Mr. Mew took the chance to leap onto Sho's shoulder, clutching the collar of his coat, and claw wildly at the noise's face. Sho teleported away, dropping Mr. Mew to the ground, and transformed into the more powerful Leo Cantus.

And one Leo Cantus was met by the other, as the rest of the reapers, having pushed back the noise on the thirteenth floor, arrived on the roof. The real Sho grasped the heartless version of himself by the neck, screaming, "Infinity!" A great explosion rocked the roof, as Sho smashed the rogue into the ground.

However, the taboo noise was far from finished. He warped behind the Conductor, launching a powerful kick and roaring "Zetta slow!" His hind paw struck the real Sho across the face as he turned, sending him sprawling and reverting to his more humanoid appearance.

Of the three groups, Beat and Rhyme fared the best by far. Beat's wild antics complimented his sister's well placed strategic psyches perfectly. He was struck several times, but shrugged off the blows and activated a healing psyche of his own.

"Ready for a Beat down?" he grunted, slamming his skateboard down roughly, crushing another heartless. "Hell yeah!" He seemed to be enjoying himself thoroughly, as a smooth spin ground another heartless to dust. Four more heartless approached him, and struck, only to find Beat shielded by a defensive psyche cast by Rhyme. Beat took the chance to pound two of them apart, and the other two scattered. "Come back when you grow a pair!" he taunted the fleeing heartless, as he turned towards new opponents.

Meanwhile, Sora and Kairi's battle against the Darkside was nearing its end. The Darkside had attempted to summon yet another batch of heartless allies, and both had taken the chance to strike the great heartless with a powerful flurry of blows. Finally, the Darkside crumbled into darkness in defeat, after suffering scores of powerful blows from the Oathkeeper keyblades held by both Sora and Kairi.

The two turned, and Sora lifted the fusion pin, which was once again lit with power. He looked towards Kairi, and their gaze met. Together, they nodded, and Sora summoned all the power in the pin. Their keyblades lengthened, and the two of them raced towards the taboo Sho, still in his Leo Cantus state, swinging wildly. The blades were perfectly coordinated and danced gracefully between each other, striking Sho twice before he could teleport away. Almost immediately, though, the blur of giant keyblades was upon him once more. Before he could fight back, he was struck several more times, and a flash of light held him still. Sora and Kairi finally finished, splitting so one stood on either side of him, and hurling their keyblades high into the air. They keyblades merged forming an even larger blade of pure light that plunged down, straight through the maverick noise, and burrowing into the ground. Lights burst upon impact, like the firework show of the night before, showering sparks that destroyed heartless on contact.

The taboo noise Sho sank to his knees. Sora and Kairi had both been reverted from Destiny Form, but it hardly mattered, as the heartless were all destroyed. Sora was tired, but the mission had to be completed.

He took two swift steps forward, and plunged Oblivion into the fading noise's chest, where its heart would be. As darkness faded, its heart flew free, a glowing pink shape, floating up into the sky. "The world… is garbage," the demonic noise groaned, as it faded away. At last, the roof of Pork City was devoid of noise and heartless alike.

With the coup de grace, the timers upon Sora and Kairi's hand faded. Reapers and humans alike broke into applause, but the victorious players could not hear, as the Composer restored the UG and RG, and the two players were whisked away by the Game Master, back to the Shibuya river.


	18. Epilogue: It's a Wonderful World

**Epilogue: It's a Wonderful World**

The Scramble Crossing. Again.

Sora stood, and saw Kairi stirring as well, a few feet away. He walked over, and offered her a hand, helping her to her feet. The two surveyed the surroundings. Even in the early morning hours, the Scramble Crossing was crowded. Sora still felt invisible, as it seemed no one even noticed the sudden appearance of two teenagers.

"We're not still dead… are we?" asked Sora, hesitantly. Kairi looked at him, alarmed.

"We can't be… they said…"

* * * * * * * * * *

_"And a round of applause for our big winners," said Kariya, clapping his hands slowly. They were back in Joshua's office, although the Composer himself was not present. Surprisingly, Sora and Kairi were not alone. Four other people of various ages were in the room with them, sleeping peacefully on the couch, floor, or leaning against the wall; the players of the next game had already arrived, they just didn't know it yet. Sora felt pity rise from within his heart. Sleeping peacefully in death, these residents of Shibuya had no idea what awaited them._

_"As the only survivor who would need it, you, Sora, have earned your resurrection. When the Composer arrives, he will restore you to the RG," Kariya continued, ignoring the silence. "You, Kairi, will have your entry fee returned to you by the Composer as well. Sora, you will find that the entry fee taken from you, twice now, has been returned."_

_Sora reached into his pocket, and indeed, the Orichalum charm was there. Truly though, the charm was just a token, a reminder of a friendship that could not be forgotten regardless. "Thanks," Sora muttered quietly. Kairi turned and looked at Sora curiously, wondering what the entry fee could have been._

_"Before I partake in a long-deserved vacation, I must remind you of one last rule. When you are restored to the RG, you will no longer be permitted back to the UG to play the game. Now, your fate is what you will choose."_

_"Corny," said Uzuki from the corner, in which she had been sitting in the Composer's armchair._

_Kariya shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me. I'm off," he said, heading out the door and grabbing a suitcase that leaned against the wall. "Give the next Game Master my best regards, Uzuki."_

_"I'm off for this week too, remember?" the other reaper said, standing as well, and leaving the room._

_Sora and Kairi sat uncomfortably in silence, among the deceased, as the soon-to-be players enjoyed their last long respite before the next Game Master arrived. After what seemed like forever, the door opened once more. Sora and Kairi turned to see Joshua._

_Upon seeing them, the young Composer put a finger to his own pursed lips. A silent gesture later, and Sora and Kairi too fell asleep. The world seemed surreal for a moment, surreal, like passage from death to life._

* * * * * * * * * *

Sora shook his head. "All I remember is Joshua coming into the room… I don't feel dead, though."

"You're not dead, I don't think," came a quiet, female voice.

Sora and Kairi turned to see Aerith Gainsborough of Radiant Garden standing before them. She had long brown hair, parted and braided, and wore a beautiful pink ribbon that matched her simple dress. She had been one of the first to meet Sora as his quest began, to educate him about the heartless, a friend and mentor along with the other Radiant Garden natives, Yuffie Kisaragi and Squall Leonhart, who had refused to be called as anything but "Leon" until recently, when the Radiant Garden restoration had been completed.

"Aerith!?" asked Sora, confused. "What are you doing here!?"

Kairi recognized the woman as well, for she had stayed with Aerith, Yuffie, and Leon in Traverse Town, when Sora departed for the End of the World. She ran forth to greet her friend, but stopped at Sora's exclamation.

"Your friend, Roxas, sent me," she explained, noticing their expressions of surprise. "He arrived at the Radiant Garden six days ago. He was looking for Riku, but Riku is still… well, Riku wasn't back yet, at least, when I left."

"What happened to Riku?" Kairi asked, panic-stricken. "And where's Roxas?"

Aerith shook her head sadly. "I don't know for sure," she said. "Roxas went searching for Riku, but he told me to bring the _Highwind_ back here in six days if he hadn't returned by then. I'd explain more, but perhaps we should wait until we're back on the ship."

Sora looked at Kairi and nodded. "Sorry Kai," he said sheepishly. "I guess we're going to be a bit late for school."

Kairi just laughed. She turned towards Aerith. "Sora and I have a few things to take care of, okay?"

"Sure. The beacon is near that statute, west of here. I'll wait for you up there, okay?" suggested Aerith. Sora and Kairi nodded, and the woman left.

"Where do you think everyone is?" asked Sora, as he and Kairi ventured east.

"I'm not sure," said Kairi, "but we'll find them."

"Or they'll find us," Sora corrected, as he saw a familiar blonde-haired boy wearing a black skull beanie riding towards them on a CAT-designed skateboard.

"Yo yo yo!" Beat cried, as he noticed the pair. "C'mon man!" he said, jumping off the skateboard and clapping Sora on the shoulder. "We're all down at coffee-man's place, yo!"

Beat lead them back to the Wildkat Café where all of them, Neku, Shiki, Rhyme, Naminé, Mr. Hanekoma, and even Joshua were gathered. "I found 'em, yo!" shouted Beat as he stepped into the café.

"Glad to be alive again, I see," said Joshua with a smirk. He and Hanekoma stood quietly in the corner, looking on as Neku, Shiki, Rhyme, Beat, and Naminé congratulated Sora and Kairi on their success.

Hanekoma laughed. "Of course," he said. "They both have so much to live for still."

Meanwhile, across the room, the conversation turned quite grim. "Hey, we really need to get going," said Sora at last, interrupting the conversation. At once, the mood became quite somber.

"So soon?" asked Shiki, sounding upset.

"What happened?" asked Naminé, noting that both Kairi and Sora looked serious.

"We don't know," said Kairi. "A friend from our own world came to find us."

"Roxas is in trouble," explained Sora. Naminé gasped audibly.

"What happened?" she asked nervously.

"I don't know," said Sora. "But we really need to get back to our own world soon."

"But we'll try to come back," Kairi promised.

Soon, Sora, Kairi, and Naminé left, waving good bye to their friends. Sora held a skateboard under his arm, the one that Beat had purchased for Roxas. The nobody had left it, in his haste to set off and find Riku. In the other hand, the keyblade master held the box, containing the black outfit he had purchased from the reaper back in Molco, on the fifth day of the second week. Kairi held a small pouch given to her by Rhyme, containing the Rubik's cube that had tormented them throughout their stay. Rhyme, however, had been kind enough to include an instruction manual. Naminé still wore her plain white dress, but she carried several outfits that Shiki and Eri had designed for her in a small bag.

As they were approaching the statute of Hachiko, they had one more surprising visitor.

"Good morning, radians!" sang Sho, dropping down in front of them. Sora glared at the reaper suspiciously.

"What do you want?" Sora demanded, setting down the package in case the reaper tried to shoot him again. He shouldn't have worried, though.

"A little function as a coefficient of my thanks," he said, tossing a pin to Sora. It resembled the π-pins, but the background seemed more vibrant, and the color scheme was brighter. As Sora held the pin, he felt rather than heard a small voice in his head, chanting numbers in Sho's voice.

At first, he considered hurling the pin as far as possible.

"So zetta slow!" came the voice in his head. The image of a paper loaded with difficult math questions rose in his mind, and he realized what a treasure the pin would be. Especially when they finally returned to the Islands, and Kairi at last succeeded in forcing Sora to return to school.

"Thanks, Sho," he said, managing a smile at his ex-partner, who gazed at the package Sora had set down curiously.

Sho laughed. "It'll look zetta sexy with that outfit," he said, and with a salute, he disappeared, but not before Kairi and Sora noted wings beginning to sprout from his back.

The three of them reached the _Highwind_ soon after. Naminé found, to her surprise, that she could return to Kairi's mind once more, although she could also leave and retain her physical form as she desired. They assumed Roxas would be able to do the same, when they found him. Aerith had agreed to explain the situation in the ship, but all three of them were quite tired from their adventure, and they agreed to wait until they landed first.

The _Highwind_ then departed, flying over the world below, where skyscrapers towered over the crowded streets, teeming with life. Kairi sat near the window, watching Shibuya as it shrank, eventually disappearing from view, as they headed towards Radiant Garden. The chipmunk engineers, who had fallen asleep soon after greeting Sora and Kairi, thankfully didn't notice as Sora got up and walked to her side.

"Everything alright, Kai?" he asked.

Of course it was. It didn't matter that Riku and Roxas were missing. They'd figure out what happened soon enough, and find them. It didn't matter that Sora had just died. They had made it back, after all.

And they had made new friends, seen new sights. That is what made life worth living, she thought. Enjoying every moment to the best you could, expanding your world as you went.

Kairi simply smiled. "Yea, everything's fine," she said with a peaceful sigh. Sora gave her a quick hug before returning to the pilot's seat, rushing back so that the chipmunks wouldn't awake to find the pilot neglecting the wheel. Rather than steering though, he opened the package, taking a closer look at the outfit he had purchased from the reaper.

The _Highwind_ drifted off gently, making a beeline towards the Radiant Garden. They would be there in single day, traveling at their current pace. Kairi turned, glancing at the pilot's seat, and broke out laughing. Sora was wearing the outfit, a black short-sleeved coat with golden buttons, complimented with a pair of scarred black jeans, a black baseball cap, and a red bandanna. Sora looked at himself in the nearest mirror, and laughed as well, finally awaking the engineers, who wasted no time in berating the captain.

It's a wonderful world, Kairi thought to herself, drifting off to sleep.

* * *

**A/N:** And that brings this chapter to a close. The title seems to have little to no relation to this particular story, but that's intentional. I hope you all enjoyed reading this work.

I don't know when the next story will be uploaded. A significant portion of it is written already. On one hand, I'd like to finish it first, so I can post it in the same routine I uploaded this one. On the other, that might be a while off. If you have any suggestion as to the best way to handle this situation, please don't hesitate to share.

If it's not entirely obvious, the second part of this story focuses on Riku and his adventure, in the tomes of the Radiant Garden.

A big thanks to all readers, reviewers, and those who have favorited this story. It is good to know that this story isn't entirely lost amidst the 40,000+ Kingdom Hearts fanfictions on this site.


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